I'm here to try to alleviate that.
I used to codrive for FlatBlackIan when he was the official NICOClub rally car. We did pretty ok. We got trophies once.
Finnish Fury Rallysport 240sx Rally Car
More recently, my teammate Bill picked up an MK2 VW Golf GTi rally car that we worked on and rallied a few times - he drove and I told him how and where to drive. We did pretty ok. We got trophies once.
Although sitting in the passenger seat is literally as close as you can get, it's still not driving. My automotive dreams have always revolved around rally. I've always had a "rally project" on the back burner, but they're really expensive and time consuming to build from scratch.
Last summer, I picked up a Z33 that needed some work. I made some repairs and when fall got busy, I decided to put it up for sale as it was. Mark Holden (RallyB13) contacted me and offered to trade his bent rally car. I thought about it for a day and decided to take him up on his offer. I am not getting any younger; and although I'm finally getting to a point in my life when building a rally car is actually becoming feasible, my wife and I also just found out we were pregnant...
Here's the build thread for the Sentra [DISCLAIMER: that site is not well-maintained and might be spammy. I can't even view it at work as it's flagged. Proceed with caution]:
Entropy Rally Sentra SER
Mark stuffed the car at his last rally and never got around to making the repairs. The radiator was bent, the core support was damaged, the skid plate was wrecked, and the oil pan was smashed. He made enough repairs before we made the deal to be able to drive the Sentra onto the trailer.
We decided to make the deal at LSPR. Mark is from the middle of Minnesota and I'm from the middle of Michigan. We were both going to LSPR anyway, so this made the most sense. We loaded up our cars and met in the middle-ish.
Mark and I met at a fellow rallyist's place where our cars had been stored for the weekend while we were all out doing rally things with our rally friends. We had a session of thorough show and tell before we whipped up some semi-official paperwork and made the deal. We shook hands, bid our former projects adieux, and headed our separate ways.
After getting the car home and unloaded. I did take it for a little rip down the road. The car sounds like a proper rally car. It's normally aspirated two-liter is only muffled by the catalytic converter at the end of the tail pipe. With the shape that the car was in, I didn't go far or fast; but it was enough to assure me that I made out good on the deal.
During the initial swap, neither of us had the extra space that was required to fit all the spares that come along with a rally car. After a few weeks, plans were made for me to drive out to Minnesota and retrieve the rest of the Sentra.
After spending three days traveling 1400 miles, a trip to the biggest mall in the world, and spending a small fortune on towing a trailer around Chicago, I arrived back home with a U-Haul full of parts.
Then the holidays happened. Then I spent nearly a month doing the timing chains on my sister-in-law's Xterra. Then my wife had a baby. Then I spent a week cleaning up the disaster that the lab had become from working on back-to-back-to-back projects in the lab without ever resetting my work space. Other stuff...
FINALLY a couple weeks ago I pulled the Sentra into the lab and started working on it.
The first event is Southern Ohio Forest Rally and takes place May 19-20th (yes the same weekend as NicoFest Carlisle). There's not a lot of time to make the necessary repairs to get it back in fighting form. The other events that I want to participate in this year are Lake Michigan Rally Sprint on June 3, Central UP Rally on June 24, Sno*Drift Summer Rally on August 5, and finally Lake Superior Performance Rally on October 20-21.
For more information about stage rally or the events check out the following websites:
NASA Rally Sport
Rally America
Check out my YouTube channel for video updates. I'm trying a video log on this project. I've taken some inspiration from some of the regulars that I watch over there. Although I don't have any fancy production equipment or software, so far I think it's turning out well. I don't take the time to upload as many pictures and do write-ups like I used to, so I'm kind of liking the new medium. I don't feel so obligated to explain so much.
YouTube: Dexter's Autolab
Anyway, I'll still try to come on here from time to time and post an update with some pictures and links to videos and what not. Follow me on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to get the latest updates in the most timely fashion. Check out Bill and I at Tri City Evolution Rally Team on Facebook as well.
Thanks for following along.
