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

[J14cm7]

It looks like the back to the future car...nice work ian

[IanS]

Like I said, one of the bulbs is burnt out, I will be fixing that today, look for lit pictures as early as tonight.

Argh. I must have grabbed a used bulb and stuck it in there. Sorry Ian.

It occurs to me that I have no need for H1 bulbs any longer as I'm going 100% HID, so email me your address and I'll send you my stash of six 130W H1 bulbs.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I can post pics of my setup. 2x Hella FF1000 Xenon driving lights (same as the ones Ian has on the outside, but with factory 35W HID), and 2x Hella Rallye 4000 pencil beams with 55W HID H1 conversion kits. (The FF1000 is a 7" light, the 4000 is a 9" light).

No problem. You should have email shortly.

Think you can get a pic of what the view looks like with the lights on? show what it would look like when driving toward a Cale sized object at 50 yards...

That will have to wait until I get back from my hunting trip. Im still working on getting the lights aimed the way I want, and I wont have time to finish until next week. Ive got them close, and driving around tonight, and I can tell they are freakin bright.

[Steady_One_S13]

Looking like one cool rally car. I likes, plus the lights and shifter make that thing sweeter.

[iamwoodywood]

Nice build, just starting in on the Nissan thing and building a s13 hatch for rally cross, been on it for 1week and got a week to get it done. cage is here but not in yet and motor and trans is done. are you running any rally cross? i work for a sp team with 2 sti cars. so i am used to the rally America routine. hope to see you around.
been to the xgames for 4 years now with the cars and rally cross was a blast this year, just the event was the normal headache, we had 1 car in rally and 1 car in super rally (rally cross)

[IanS]

Nice build, just starting in on the Nissan thing and building a s13 hatch for rally cross, been on it for 1week and got a week to get it done. cage is here but not in yet and motor and trans is done. are you running any rally cross? i work for a sp team with 2 sti cars. so i am used to the rally America routine. hope to see you around.
been to the xgames for 4 years now with the cars and rally cross was a blast this year, just the event was the normal headache, we had 1 car in rally and 1 car in super rally (rally cross)

Ive thought about doing some rally crosses just to get extra seat time, but Im working way too much lately.

What do you plan to run for tires, suspension, diff?

[iamwoodywood]

i have gravels take offs from the sp cars. going to try different ones this week when motor is back in, sr20det.we have bfg,mich, hankook and pirelli tires all compounds. also have some tarmac tires just depends on the condition of NJMSP track when we get there on Nov 5th.
i have a vlsd and a welded diff going to try the vlsd for rally cross. deciding on suspension this week, have coilovers and kyb set up that came with my shell, thinking of the coil over set up, going to put car on scales and set it up. nice to see another 2wd Nissan out there. nice thing about rally cross is the engine options, as long as Nissan made it i can put it in, 3.0 for a turbo motor, 5.1 for a ohc n/a motor and 6.3 for a push rod motor.
thinking of a rb25det for next year.
just this is a car with a 2 week build time for the doubleheader weekend to have fun with.
hope to see you at sno drift

[iamwoodywood]

did oyu go to the 2009 ojibwe rally? we finished 2nd in sp there

[IanS]

Nope, didnt make it to OFPR, or LSPR. Im spending all my time/money finishing the car.

Just out of curiosity, have you ever rally crossed before?

I ran my S14 with SR a few times, and this is what I learned. Snow tires are better then gravels. They hook better due to the softer sidewalls. Street coils suck for rallycross. They are way too stiff, and they lack travel. Ideally, you want soft springs, and decent dampers. For RWD, I would lose the rear sway bar. You can rotate easily enough with the throttle, and you need the rear end to dig for traction. The ability to get the rear tires dug in makes the difference between fun and fast. Just my 2 cents.

I may make it to snow drift, but its not my first choice. I prefer something a little closer and warmer to shake the bugs out of a fresh car. Most likely one of the early regional MN events.

[RallyB13]

I think you two are talking about two different things.

Woody is talking about the "European Rallycross" events that are being run at NJMP. The top teams there are not running gravels, but typically cut slicks, as speeds on the tarmac portions offset the lack of traction in the dirt sections. However I've heard there's a different layout this time with more bias towards dirt, so who knows?

Ian is talking about SCCA RallyCross which typically also doesn't favor gravel tires at most events (despite what a lot of competitors seem to think). For most RallyCross surfaces there's not enough time or speed to get heat into the heavy carcass of a gravel tire, and they'll be operating cold all the time, which reduces their traction significantly. Harder (studdable, but not studded) snow tires tend to work well. Blizzaks and the like tend to be too soft. Winterforces are just right and dirt cheap.

[RallyB13]

I may make it to snow drift, but its not my first choice. I prefer something a little closer and warmer to shake the bugs out of a fresh car. Most likely one of the early regional MN events.

Have you seen the announcements for Rally Minnesota in May next year?

Two days, two C3 events, based in Park Rapids, run in the White Earth forest (think traditional Ojibwe Saturday stages). Some of the best forest rally roads in the USA (we used to use these roads for Shooting Star, which I was part of the organizing team for, and I've driven that forest to the tune of close to 1,000 miles over the years and fall more in love with it every time).

Plus I've been talking to one of my fellow students from Team O'Neil and she's planning on towing her "new" G2 car from Nebraska for this event. Her "new" car just happens to be Jake's old SE-R...

You can count on Scray and Vickman being there in their KA-powered Datsun 510 as well.

I'll be there.

[iamwoodywood]

I think you two are talking about two different things.

Woody is talking about the "European Rallycross" events that are being run at NJMP. The top teams there are not running gravels, but typically cut slicks, as speeds on the tarmac portions offset the lack of traction in the dirt sections. However I've heard there's a different layout this time with more bias towards dirt, so who knows?

Ian is talking about SCCA RallyCross which typically also doesn't favor gravel tires at most events (despite what a lot of competitors seem to think). For most RallyCross surfaces there's not enough time or speed to get heat into the heavy carcass of a gravel tire, and they'll be operating cold all the time, which reduces their traction significantly. Harder (studdable, but not studded) snow tires tend to work well. Blizzaks and the like tend to be too soft. Winterforces are just right and dirt cheap.

precisely you hit the nail on the head, i work for Pat Moro Motorsports with Pat Moro and TIm Rooney driving, normally Ole Holter co drives for Pat and Dennis for TIm.
We have cut slicks and tarmacs as well as gravels just depending on the dirt setup for this last double header round.
We got rally set up coil overs for the car with the first shell and a soft rally set up on the car now, just got motor in today and do Cage tomorrow then paint on Monday. will post pics as we build in a new thread for everyone to see.
this wont be pretty it is a 2 week rally car build up, car will be pretty by next season though.

[IanS]

I think you two are talking about two different things.

Woody is talking about the "European Rallycross" events that are being run at NJMP. The top teams there are not running gravels, but typically cut slicks, as speeds on the tarmac portions offset the lack of traction in the dirt sections. However I've heard there's a different layout this time with more bias towards dirt, so who knows?

Ian is talking about SCCA RallyCross which typically also doesn't favor gravel tires at most events (despite what a lot of competitors seem to think). For most RallyCross surfaces there's not enough time or speed to get heat into the heavy carcass of a gravel tire, and they'll be operating cold all the time, which reduces their traction significantly. Harder (studdable, but not studded) snow tires tend to work well. Blizzaks and the like tend to be too soft. Winterforces are just right and dirt cheap.

precisely you hit the nail on the head, i work for Pat Moro Motorsports with Pat Moro and TIm Rooney driving, normally Ole Holter co drives for Pat and Dennis for TIm.
We have cut slicks and tarmacs as well as gravels just depending on the dirt setup for this last double header round.
We got rally set up coil overs for the car with the first shell and a soft rally set up on the car now, just got motor in today and do Cage tomorrow then paint on Monday. will post pics as we build in a new thread for everyone to see.
this wont be pretty it is a 2 week rally car build up, car will be pretty by next season though.

Well there goes all my help out the window.

Sounds like you have things figured out.

Mark. Rally MN, would be my preferred start to the season. As long as I can flip a car or 3 over the winter, I should easily be able to get all my saftey gear, as well as the body work done. Ive worked shooting star a handful of times, its a hell of a fun forest.

Hearing that Eric's (Jake's) Se-R is still kicking is great. That car was built like a tank. I have pictures somewhere of me cleaning the windows at LSPR I think it must have been 2001. It will be good to see it again. If I make it, hopefully you can introduce me to the new owners.

[iamwoodywood]

I wouldn't say that. Rally is all about helping each other out. Plus we are building a group 5 car. I was looking to you for advice and loving your build. If you eve need anything about a sti I will glad to help. This is our first venture into Nissan and your pics and build documentation are a great help.
Now if we were racing head to head same class well.......
Actually I am just helping build the car and service it. Our chief mechanic is the varnished and driver. I will still be in the service area keeping the cara going. Now it's 2 wrx sti and 1 Nissan 240

[iamwoodywood]

Ohh and forgot it's 3:30 am and I am getting to bed so I can wake up in 4 hours to get the cage in the morning and work tomorrow until 3 am. Don't know how long you have been on your car but this is a 9 day build including paint, from a shell. Going to be long nights

[IanS]

I wouldn't say that. Rally is all about helping each other out. Plus we are building a group 5 car. I was looking to you for advice and loving your build. If you eve need anything about a sti I will glad to help. This is our first venture into Nissan and your pics and build documentation are a great help.
Now if we were racing head to head same class well.......
Actually I am just helping build the car and service it. Our chief mechanic is the varnished and driver. I will still be in the service area keeping the cara going. Now it's 2 wrx sti and 1 Nissan 240

No doubt. All though I dont think I will be needing too much advice as far as Subarus go. I know WRXs almost as well as I know 240s. I have one sitting in the garage right now waiting for the motor to go back in so it can go up for sale. Flipping Subarus is how I am funding my projects.

[iamwoodywood]

hey i was looking at he cage pics and was wondering if you got your log book yet? i know on the s13 we are building and actually all of our rally cars the door bars have to have an x brace. ether from the down bar before the a pillar or an x with 2 separate bars on the door.
like in this pic from rally america with the minimum cage specs.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

didn't want you to get to a rally then given a hard time in tech

[IanS]

I do indeed have my log book. I had the car pre inspected by Mike Hurst, and he ok'd the cage. I know FIA allows for a bunch of different door bar setups. I dont know what the name for the style that mine is, but it passes.

As of now, ingress/egress are equal to most other rally cars. Adding another door bar would change that. There is a fine line with door bars between being strong enough, and making ingress/egress doable in a safe amount of time.

[iamwoodywood]

must be nice to live close to to rally car hq. we are way too far away to have anyone look at the car until we get there. lucky you.
been soo busy getting this car together have not even had time to upload pics.

[IanS]

must be nice to live close to to rally car hq. we are way too far away to have anyone look at the car until we get there. lucky you.
been soo busy getting this car together have not even had time to upload pics.

MN has its perks.

Little update. I finally ordered the rest of the stuff needed for exhaust. The cat is here already, and the tubing should be here this week. Hopefully I can get it buttoned up, and get out for some test and tune time before the snow flies.

[RallyB13]

regarding cages and the door bars, the cage going into my Sentra looks a *lot* like the cage in Ian's car.


The primary difference are the rear inverted V and the b-pillar braces.

[IanS]

The inverted V is one of the things that I will be adding to my cage next year ish. Along with tubes connecting the rear strut towers to the base of the B pillar hoop

[IanS]

Mini update. I have been busy like they talk about on tv.

I found just enough time to get the exhaust built. I picked up a 2.5" UJ bend, and a cat in the same size.

Right now I have it all welded up rigid, but I will be adding a flex section after the flange. Its a good start though. Its quiet at idle, and cruising, but when you open it up, she screams. I may add a straight through resonator at some point, just to tone it down a hair, but I am reasonably certain it will pass tech as is.

I snugged it up super close to the body. The cat sits in the raised area where the rear seat would have been. I shouldn't have any issues smashing it into stuff.



I also acquired another 240SX. The body is rust free, but it needs a drivers fender, and the frame has the usual rot. It is an autotragic, and engine is out, and in a nasty state of disassembly. The good news though, is I have almost all the parts to put together a full DOHC motor for the rally car. Time to start researching the DOHC head on SOHC block swap. As for the shell, I have been pondering doing a little V8 side project, but we shall see. Either that, or I may just hold onto it for a parts car/spare shell.

[Bumnah]

Coolest car on Nico. Coolest thread on Nico.

[S13AL]

It would be cool to see that red one built for on-road use.

[Speedy7_7]

It looks like the red one will be a cheap v8 project. Ian has been super busy at work. We did a little fiberglass work and we will start doing all the major body/paint work as soon as Ian has a day off. The exhaust is fully finished and hung up now. We will patch some holes and paint it, then its just a few more bits and pieces before rally Mn in May.

[IanS]

Work will recommence soon. Bodywork has begun, but the more exciting news is, I now have a GoPro HD Hero to film with. I have been playing with it all night, and am having fun making time lapse movies, as well as taking a spin in the maxima with it mounted in car.

Ill post up some of my video tests once I get better at the setup and editing. This thing is freakin awesome. I <3 Christmas. I think my wife knows me too well, Thanks Nessa.

[audtatious]

Ian, are there some pix missing in the first few posts?

[RallyB13]

Hey Ian...





My build thread is over at: http://www.sr20-forum.com/autocross-ral ... build.html

[IanS]

Ian, are there some pix missing in the first few posts?

Wow. I dont know what happened there, but it looks like all the links got goobered. I wonder if the software switch had anything to do with it? I'll look into it, I have all the pictures still.

Hey Ian...





My build thread is over at: http://www.sr20-forum.com/autocross-ral ... build.html

I hate you so much right now.

[IanS]

Nope, they didnt get goobered, they are gone.

I dont know what happened to all the links, but every hotlink in the first post is missing. I just checked my photo host, they are all still there, its just a matter of re adding all the hotlinks. I will try and get it done tomorrow when Im at a real computer.