You bloody sook! Hahaha. Must be great to hear that you dont have to wait untill October! We just had a round of the Tassie series in the north of the state. I was all keen to go and official but had a big Friday night and didnt know where exactly the rally was so didnt go. :(

Its pissing me off not having the car going yet. I hope to enter the next rally but finding the time to build the motor is holding me back. We really only have to bolt the head and carbies on, get a gearbox mount made, make and balance the tailshaft and she is hopping. Ofcourse there are other things like new harnesses, terrratrip etc.

I just want to get it started so I can spank it up and down some dirt roads around my way, you know, get some practice in before starting a rally.

She looks so good sitting in the shed but I am getting sick of it just sitting. I am trying to post some pics but it takes too long to size the pics and post 'em.

A decent metal fabricator should be able to make one up for you. Only problem is you would have to design it for your requirements. Surely some of the performance shops over there (on the mainland) could design one for you, but of course whats the cost going to be??

Welcome Frodaddy. Geez, this club just gets bigger and bigger. I think back to the days when I was looking for my first car and imagine if I had bought an Escort or something. Im sure there is plenty of support for them but this club is just great.

I am in shock, still. I can not believe that he has gone. I heard the reports and thought: "Nah, this is Possum he will pull through this."
I, as many rally enthusiasts, have looked up to Possum as an ambassador to our sport. He was and will contiune to be an absolute legend to Australian rallying. Being one of the younger people trying to start in rallying I have looked to people such as Possum and Ed for inspiration and have been so uplifted by their achivements and skill behind the wheel.
I have had the privilage of saying hello to Possum and will never forget his arrival at the end of the stages I have worked on. His face full of determination and also a sense of achievement after completing the stage, always keen to see the leader board and the times his fellow competitors have posted (funny tho, I mostly remeber him first on the road :).
It will really hit home when I dont see him on the stages in the Tassie round of the ARC. I am now more inspired than ever to get in there and rally and just hope that I can make it to the Tassie ARC round this year, competeing instead of being an official.

RIP Peter "Possum" Bourne - There must be some great rally roads up there, keep flying.

Ok here is my beef, I will try not to get side tracked and whinge, but I probablly will :)

There are things that #### me to tears. One is these rich parents giving hand outs to kids. Buying them BMW's or hi-performance machines that the dicks cant even handle. I was brought up to work for what I wanted. I built my Datto with all the money I earned and then to have some prick write it off (and its not your fault) is heart breaking. I see P platers driving Commos and #### like that and it kills me. I first learnt to drive a 6cyl Ford ute. The Datto was my first car when on my P's. Now I dont consider the stock power neck braking but it was enough to teach me some basics on how to drive. Sure I slightly crashed it the first night I had my P's. So what? It was at 10PM in the middle of no where, no one to hurt! I span out a few times in the wet, also in places that gets #### all traffic ie. back roads in the bush.

I now have my XB ute with the XR6 motor. This thing whoops VT/VX Commo's, Mits. Magna's, 5ltr Commos, yadda yadda, but it has also taught me other areas of how to drive. Power slides, handling/race line at furken rediculos speeds, etc. Things you cant learn in a lesser powered car. You speak to any rally driver and they recommend you learn to drive a slow car fast (ie. get the line/ the feel/ and know what the car is gonna do) before you hit a big power monster. We all agree that driving a powerfull car with no skills it stupid hey, unfortunatly there are retards that get that oppertunity, like that Soarer that plowed into that house. Car was filled with teenagers being dickheads!

Another thing that ####s me is STREET RACING. I will admit that Im all up for a street drag. On the highway, a set of lights etc. Everyone has a bit of traffic light heroism. But you dont do it in build up areas or when there are people about! There are some furken dicks out there that drive like morons all the time, no matter what the circumstances/conditions. I will race my mates on some back roads that no one drives on for the fun of it, but we dont cut across the lines unless you can see ahead blah blah.

Another thing I will put my hand up for, and that is ... that I am NOT the best driver ever. I dont consider myself to be a hero. I am not Colin McRae or Craig Lowndes. I drive with the attitude that I am always learning. I can now predict the way my ute will react when I go hard, but I am not 100% cause there are too many variables. BUT one thing I must state is LIMITS. You know how you find your limit? You crash! You have gone too far if you go off the road. You can slowly build up your skills and get faster and faster. But it is not until you push too far and come off that you realise where you are at. Then you try and go that fast but not crash and so further your limit. Or you can jump in head strong and crash first time out, you will learn the limit and also how expensive repairs are. I am all for keeping it on the track and I am trying to get it out of my system there in a controlled environment, thats why I bought the rally car!

Well Im gonna shut the #### up now. Last words are that I am pleased to see how level headed the people on this forum are. I have been on many other forums that are basically brag sessions, also ones that wont let you tell stories of what you have been up to. Both have good and bad. But on this site we are not a bunch of heros. We dont brag, we have a laugh/sob over our experiences (good or bad) and encourage sensible driving. We dont silence people or their oppinions.

Keep it safe,

Simon

I am actually on the look out for some 40mm Dellorto's or Webers, but 42's sound good. I will have to get back to you on that one, hoping to build my engine soon for the rally car. Bloke I know says that he knows someone (the 'ol friend of a friend) who has some 40's for sale, not sure on price tho. Let us know is you do sell them either way.

It your thread about brake bias 1200rc you mention disc rear ends. This bloke said that he used to run a Fiat 125 (or was that 124) rear end with discs! It involved a lot of welding and cutting. They tossed up between a Bluebird disc rear or the Fiat and ended up with the latter.

He also said that Group G was around then. This had some guys running 1200's with L18 motors. He said they sat the motor back as far as they could otherwise the handling was stuffed.

Dowels seem to be ok. I just whipped the motor and box out of the spare shell and went to put it in the new rally car. I dont see why it is being such a pain in the ass. The input shaft definately wont go all he way in but I cant understand how the alignment could be out seeing as tho I just pulled it from the other car and it was ok. Maybe I should try loosening off the clutch assembly and lining the clutch up just to see if thats the problem. It only takes me about an hour to swap motor and gearbox, but today it was such a long and tedious process!

1200rc, he also asked if I had a cover over the fuel tank. I mentioned that the tank has been fibreglassed on the outside to protect it and he said thats what he used to do, but he also ran some metal strips within the fibreglass just incase you bottom out there is something there. I also run a heap of flaps under the car. One to protect the exhaust flange from the extractors to the rest of the exhaust, one near the muffler, one to cover the ass end of the gearbox where the tail shaft meets. I also have an alloy sump gaurd that runs under the whole sump and part of the bellhousing.

The next rally is in about 2-3weeks but I wont have the car ready for that so I will try and offical for it instead. Hope to make it to the rally after that. Still have to buy Terra Trip, Intercom, Fuel Pumps and other assorted bits. I also have to get a tail shaft made to suit the Daihatsu diff and get it balanced! More $$$.

Got a great deal on some 3" Klippan harnesses the other day when one of the reps came into work. They are five point too!

nope it shouldnt make any difference in front to rear bias as it just makes pedal effort less and effects both front and rear. You could imagine if car company's made cars lock the rear wheels before the fronts, everyone who jumped on the stop pedal would spin out everywhere. I spose you would have to try what Dattoman suggested and fit bigger rear wheel cylinders to get more rear brake action.

Thats what I was trying to say about the bias valve reducing rear pressure : )

Are you running a brake booster of any type?