OFFICIAL: NicoClub's Rally 240SX, by Finnish Fury Rallysport

[breadbox]

Um, I guess I'll have to research that. thanx for the tip.

Could it also be called rotating torque of the pinion?

[IanS]

Um, I guess I'll have to research that. thanx for the tip.

Could it also be called rotating torque of the pinion?

You can measure it by that, the rotating torque will be effected by the preload. What the adjustment actually does, is it sets the gear lash for the worm gear.

[AZhitman]

Damn, I can't WAIT to see this thing in action!!!

[IanS]

Damn, I can't WAIT to see this thing in action!!!

Im just warning you, it will be a lot more fun to drive it then it will be to watch. I stand by my statement of slow and noisy.

Truck is loaded, and the car is on the trailer. T minus 4 hours.

Im going to go take a nap.

[AZhitman]

Rest well - I'd love to take a lap in it.

[S13AL]

I'd love to take a lap in it.

I couldn't agree more

[lbreevesii]

^ amen to that.

Godspeed my friend.


When in doubt, flat out!!

[IanS]

Im just going to leave this in here for those of you who dont frequent GC.

The rally 240SX flew today.

[bllabong89]

IT'S ALIVEEEEEE!!!!!!LOL It looks great man

[lbreevesii]

I doubt it will ever be an issue, but you might want to check into securing the ends of the headlight springs. One of mine popped out thanks to a washboarded dirt road(not at speed) so I wasn't able to open the headlights.

[IanS]

I doubt it will ever be an issue, but you might want to check into securing the ends of the headlight springs. One of mine popped out thanks to a washboarded dirt road(not at speed) so I wasn't able to open the headlights.

I was thinking about tacking them in place. Ive had issues with that on other 240s, though this one hasn't exhibited it yet, even after the jump.

[AZhitman]

Let's just ditch the popups and go with a full rack of solid-mount rally lights.

[IanS]

Let's just ditch the popups and go with a full rack of solid-mount rally lights.

The thought has crossed my mind, but I dont want to be forced to run all my expensive lights all the time. For daytime stages, its nice to be able to take them off so they dont get wrecked. The popups are fixed in the up position, with the motors removed. I think Im just going to add some support to them. Then I need to get started working on the light bar.

First of all though, I need to figure out why both the hazards and the wipers stopped working. I wonder if they share a common ground/power. Hmm.

[bllabong89]

that seems like an issue.lol. I am pretty sure you wouldnt want to be stuck without either one of those in certain situations.

The ground/power seems like the first thing I would check. Idk if you have one but I used to have a good electrical probe from Matco. It plugs into a cigarette lighter(or a cigarette outlet with clips to clamp on the battery) and lights green for ground, red for power, orange for data and has a switch so you can feed the wire power. Just an idea though.

[IanS]

that seems like an issue.lol. I am pretty sure you wouldnt want to be stuck without either one of those in certain situations.

The ground/power seems like the first thing I would check. Idk if you have one but I used to have a good electrical probe from Matco. It plugs into a cigarette lighter(or a cigarette outlet with clips to clamp on the battery) and lights green for ground, red for power, orange for data and has a switch so you can feed the wire power. Just an idea though.

I have a power probe that I will be using to dig into it. It has a power probing lead that reads voltage, and ground resistance, as well as an aux ground clip.

Im still recouping from the weekend, but I will get back to work on the car later this week hopefully. I got all the mud cleaned off yesterday, but didn't have the energy to do anything more.

[IanS]

Ok, Im going to post all the pictures, and videos of my car from Omaha in this post, for posterity.

Some stuff we got done before hand.

The battery tie down.



All boxed up.



And some last minute bling.



Just in case anyone was confused about how to tow the car.





Loading up.



After the long trip.



Unloaded at the track.



Where we were supposed to be racing. It was more lake than field. This turned out to be more trouble than I had expected.



I made one clean slow run, then on the second run, the wipers failed. We got them fixed, and I got one clean run in. I decided to give Cale a chance to have some fun.

He took a recce lap, and then,





The car died when he tried to go out for a second run.



After some serious running around, I discovered that the ceramic on 2 of the spark plugs was cracked. Detonation. After replacing them, I started tracing the reason. It was only a short time before I found that the fuel pressure was extremely low. After pulling the fuel tank access cover, I realized that the fuel pump sending unit had gotten wet and shorted out, burning out the power wire for the pump. I was able to re run the wire directly to the pump, and get the car running, but it was too late. Course was closed.







Without any more racing to do in my car, someone pointed out a rail road crossing close by that might be good for getting a car airborne. I was intrigued, it was time to nut up or shut up.



First attempt. About 50 mph. To get a feel for it.



Dano's video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snIElUPv28[/youtube]

And attempt number 2. About 70 mph. More English governor.





Anthony's Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvSlUHPFIaM[/youtube]

Jimmy's Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYv-OB2bk-8[/youtube]

Dan's Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKzkVBwjqVA[/youtube]

I also made a third attempt going the other direction at about 40 mph, but dont yet have any pictures/video.

Aftermath. The suspension seems to have survived the jump unscathed, though there is a noticeable rattle in the exhaust that wasnt there before. I will have to look into that. The exhaust needs to be re done anyway, as the cat is pressed against the floor because I was forced to take out the indent where it usually sits. Im glad I had a chance to get the car off the ground, it will help with tweaking the suspension. It felt great in the car, a very soft landing, but watching the video, there is a slight bounce on landing. Seems like mostly in the rear. Currently the car is missing a lot of weight that will be in the very back when it is stage ready, so that may cure it. If not, a damper revalve may be in order. In the end though, Im happy with the way the car took it, and that, plus the issues we had during the weekend, give me a great starting point to settling all the little issues before this car hits the stages.

Id like to thank everyone for reading, and looking. Its good to have people pushing me to keep going. And thank you to everyone who has helped with the car, it wouldn't be what it is without you guys. That being said, its time to step up and get the car looking and performing the way I'd like it to. It needs to be rally ready asap. Its ON.

[PyR0NiAk]

The pic of your 240 in the air is awesome, Ian.

[Ajax]

Somehow, I got unsubscribed from this thread. I just assumed you had no time to update before Omaha. Glad to see its up and running. I found another spare tie rod for you- I'll need to bring it by and trade for sifting through interior bits you may have kept.

[IanS]

OK, enough playing around. After a very serious testing session last night, I finally have some solid data on the car. After 2 or so hours of wide open throttle abuse, I finally feel confident enough to start finalizing things.

What we learned:

The car takes a set increadibly well. It can be pitched into a corner, and pointed out. Generally she will just go where the front wheels are pointed. Its very linear, and it responds well to throttle inputs.

It rotates under braking. Due to the way the weight has shifted around inside the car, I think the braking balance is slightly off. Being able to rotate the car under braking is nice, but I may want a little less rear brake torque. I'm going to start looking into getting an adjustable rear brake bias controller.

The cooling system, so far is working perfectly. She did not overheat at all, and during switch between Cale and I driving, the cooling fan cycled on and off normally. I would like to upgrade the radiator, as well as increase the size of the fan, but I dont currently have the capitol for it, so I wont fix what aint broke.

The rear suspension may need to be rethought. I love the way it feels, I think that the current spring and dampening rates work very well together. That being said, sharp bumps do throw the rear against the bump stops. The noise is unnerving, but for now I think we are going to live with it. One this setup nears the end of its life I will start looking into increasing the stroke, and possibly adding some more high speed dampening.

The front suspension is perfect. It sucks up bumps, and keeps the car controlled. Im going to add slightly more height, for ground clearance, and it will be done.

My ghetto rigged exhaust rattles a lot. It was temporary so we could make it to Omaha. Now its time to order a U J bend, some pipe, and a cat, so I can custom build some mandrel bent exhaust. Greg! Im hoping you can help me out. Im thinking either 2" or 2 1/4". Let me play around with some scraps, and I will email you.

Lighting sucks. Its really easy to overdrive factory sealed beam headlights. I pulled the yellows to keep from attracting attention. I will start researching lights tomorrow. The plan is to run 4 high power driving lights, most likely 7" or bigger. 2 will be spot lights for distance, and 2 fogs to spread light to the sides. The will be mounted to a removable bar setup that will affix to the hood between the factory headlights. I plan to use conventional lights, with aftermarket HIDs. I also need to remember to get my alternator rewound for more amps.

There is my to do list for now. Once those issues are settled, then its just a matter of bodywork, visual package, and some misc. saftey equipment.

[bllabong89]

Sounds like this thing is working out pretty well overall. Here is a company that is local to me. The guys name is Rick and hes super nice. I get my motorcycle stuff thru him. He has HID kits for 69.95 shipped and I know a handfull of people who have them and they never have problems. Once my car is getting close to that point of rolling again, I am going to buy some. Just thought you might like. http://starrotors.com/bulbs/

[Dano]

More pictars!

[motoman399]

THATS BAD a**!!!

[IanS]

THATS BAD a**!!!

Hahahah.

Its temporary. We needed to get them in for Omaha. Very soon I will be pulling them back out, trimming them a little, sealing them, and reaffixing them with at least twice as many rivets as we used self tapping screws. They worked ok, and only leaked a little. I will be the first one to admit, they look like garbage.

[S13AL]

That jump must have been a rush at 70 mph!

[motoman399]

Hahahah.

Its temporary. We needed to get them in for Omaha. Very soon I will be pulling them back out, trimming them a little, sealing them, and reaffixing them with at least twice as many rivets as we used self tapping screws. They worked ok, and only leaked a little. I will be the first one to admit, they look like garbage.

it looks like a f*** race car!

[Dano]

Hahahah.

Its temporary. We needed to get them in for Omaha. Very soon I will be pulling them back out, trimming them a little, sealing them, and reaffixing them with at least twice as many rivets as we used self tapping screws. They worked ok, and only leaked a little. I will be the first one to admit, they look like garbage.

it looks like a f*** race car!

He wants it to look like a well-organized and carried out race car, not a hodge-podge hillbilly haywagon.

[confused9]

you sir are a true enthusiast. you plan on swapping engines?

[IanS]

a hodge-podge hillbilly haywagon.

Dont make me hunt you down. I'll do it.

you sir are a true enthusiast. you plan on swapping engines?

Thanks. This engine actually is a swap, and Im using it only for lack of something else. Its really up in the air right now. I have a DOHC head now, that needs reworking, but Im not sure the hybrid is worth it. I may just run it till it pops, or until I find the money to build my dream powertrain. Who knows what will happen though, I would be happy with DOHC KA, CA, SR, RB, and even VG.

[gmac708]

Full of win, as usual...Nice job Ian. Wish I could have seen you fly. You da man!

[Steady_One_S13]

Def full of win. I foresee Travis Pastrana-like jumps. Nice work, btw!