Tips/Advice on building a budget rally car. AE71

[Aust162]

Hey everyone, a friend and i are building up his AE71 for rally/offroad use. He is looking to get his CAM? license and use this car aswell. For the mean time though, the car will remain road registered and "roadworthy". (not being used daily though)

Any advice or tips on what/ how to build it on a slight budget?

At the moment we are fitting a "fresher" 4AC into it. new filters,gaskets,oils etc. new h/duty clutch.

Here's a rundown on what we have for it now:
4ac
Handmade extractors
t50 h/duty clutch
standard height king springs all round
t18 front struts,LCAs and slotted t18 rotors.
New gabriel standard shocks. front shocks are ra60/ae86 51mm shocks
Ferodo pads
Standard open borg diff (new shoes,cylinders)
14x7 custom steelies (corona 14" steelies cut and welded into 7" rim)
185/60/14 standard radial tyres
Whiteline front + rear non adjust swaybars.
few new bushes. (sway links, LCA)
Fixed back bucket seat
460cca battery
1x pair 100w driving lights
sports steering wheel
keeping full interior atm (for road use)


Looking at a cage, more lighting, exhaust?,LSD/locker, keep clutch fan or go thermo?, bash plates?

any help/ideas appreciated

[timbosaurus]

You're obviously on a budget, so keeping it that way will mean a bit of a ghetto car. But that's OK.

Cage - Definately! It's too much hassle to get a home built cage through CAMS these days, so I'd recommend going through a CAMS recommended shop... although it will cost ya.

Diff - CIG locker will be fine for a budget car

Lights - depends if you plan on doing night events? If not, save the $$$

Suggestions...

1) why are you trying to keep it regoed? surely you are not going to drive to events, are you? The first time you have a mechanical failure/damage, you'll realise why everyone trailers their cars. Even if you car goes peter-perfect, you'll get the shits with taking tyres/tools/parts/people in and out of the car.

I would suggest club rego or no rego... cheaper, less restrictive, and you can still drive to workshops if you have club rego.

2) minimise weight. Take out most of the interior man. Makes fitting a cage easier. Make accessing wires/parts easier. Makes the car lighter. Saves bits falling off (rally is HARSH!)

3) Once you add in the cost of Harnesses, timing/nav equipment, and all the parts you mention above... You'r looking at 10k and 6 months for, in all honesty, a pretty average spec rally car.

Compare that to, say...

http://www.bmsc.com.au/forums/rally-...r-trailer.html

http://www.bmsc.com.au/forums/rally-...nt-2-door.html

Or even a classic 1600!

http://www.bmsc.com.au/forums/rally-...rally-car.html

Just my opinions on building a car from scratch

[Aust162]

Thanks timbosaurus +1.

He is really keen to build up this car. I know buying something setup for 5k would be a better financial decision, but gaining the experience and knowledge from building one up alone is worth the $$$.

The car will be road registered for the next 12mths or so, then will become a dedicated rally car. He wont be competing in events for 12mths or so. But in the meantime it will get driven around some private gravel tracks up in the bush

Will be doing a locker im sure.

More Lights will be needed, car will be driven mostly at night.

Also a fire extinguisher i forgot to add.

Looking at chassis bracing aswell. strut, boot, seam etc.

[MRMOPARMAN]

do not skimp on the cage. its bloody easy to have a major off rallying, so protect yourselves as best as possible. dont skimp on the helmets either

you will need an accurate trip meter, such as a halda or terratrip, intercom system.

seam weld the body, strip it as much as possible. any important bolts (ie sump plugs) drill holes through the head and wire them up

you will need rally rego when ya get into it. and you'll need spare parts, bolts etc etc + good tool kit, a reliable service vehicle, good mates to help etc

thats all i can think of atm.

actually i have a similar question hopefully without hijacking the thread too much.. would a 4age be legal in an AE71 rally car since it 'only' a head swap and not a complete block swap?

[mikey_m]

Keep Up the good work. I have embarked upon a similar project, I think doing it yourself will give you a great appreciation for your ride and you will be proud as punch with it. Despite the financial benefits of a pre-prepared car.

My spec is similar, a KE70 to AE71 conversion built to PRC regulations.

So far I have my 4AC and have custom intake with twin 40mm dellortos (Fancy that italian carbs on a jap car) I have behind that the later T50 and planning to put a ceramic clutch in it. I have rebuilt the engine from the ground up so it should go well.

Bond do a cage, I will be getting one of these, have not ordered it yet, but will if time prevails be doing so in the next month or two.

I love my KE70, I always figured it would look cool running around the forests at high speed.

P.S. all new cars need plumbed fire extinguisher.

[mikey_m]

Also when looking at mods etc, check out the CAMS manual, it will have all the regs etc you will need to conform with.

I.E. Mine is PRC Spec, so I cannot take out the heater to loose some weight, original heating system must remain. So keep an eye on the regs as some mods etc may not be allowed.

www.camsmanual.com.au

[timbosaurus]

He is really keen to build up this car. I know buying something setup for 5k would be a better financial decision, but gaining the experience and knowledge from building one up alone is worth the $$$.

I know what you mean Mate.

I certainly will never get back the $$$ I've spent on my car, but I had a lot of fun doing it, and get a buzz out of saying it's all my work

I think everyone has helped out with more than what I could input, so I'll just wait to see how it progresses

[julzy_quads]

to be put onto historic reg,
cars must be 25 years old,
best bet would to weld up a t-series diff with something around the 4.3 ratio,
3.9 will be abit low especially with only the 4ac,
a cheap option maybe to get something like a mega squirt computer and run quad throttles,
you will need to think seriously about sump gaurd, also keep in mind things like terratrip computer $500, seats $600, harness' $400, fire extinguishers $60 and also im fairly sure that cars going for a log book for cages must have a weld in full cage with side intrusion bars and also a cross above your head.
Also consider when you strip most of the interior out, seam welding especially around suspension and diff mounts.

hope that helps abit.