well it was fun, even though i only did one stage

on the second transport we kind of missed aturn and then after finding the right road arrived at a sign which said "private property do not enter", so we turned around and piss farted aroun trying all the roads coming off but they all lead to houses, eventually finding a local and he says go straight up the hill, so i though bugger it and blasted past the private property sign to fing the officials waiting, they tell us they were wondering what happended to us but the sweep car had already entered that stage and therefore our rally was over as effectively the road was now open to public

im pretty pissed as im supposed to have "late time" which allows for these things and the sweep car should not have entered that next competitive stage before the time had elapsed

so anyway after meeting up with service crew im driving out and these roads mind you had these HUGE potholes and i managed to bend a rear shocker after hitting one and had to pull it out as it busted off the bottom mount, so i had to drive home with no rear shock too to add to the pain

what can i say "oh well next time"
there supposed to be one novemeber 20 something but thats in the middle of exams

i did have a lot of fun on the first stage, missed most turnoffs but eventually finishd, most novice navigators struggled so im not too worried about that, we plan to go up there one night soon and finish the rally on our own to gain the experience that we should have, if it wasnt for that lazy sweep not doin his job proper

Thanks for telling us your tales of your weekend. I enjoyed reading it. Keep us up to date on your fortunes. Is the rear shock damage easy to fix? Hopefully it's just a quick mig welder fix up. Maybe you can get some photos of you in action?

Cheers,
Chris

thanks for the encouragement

actually the rubber in the bottom mount of the shocker ripped and the top circle came off, the rubbers still on the mount, the mount is not damaged

the shaft that pushes into the shocker bent so the shockers stuffed, they had thicker oil put in them which i think caused it to bend (they were tokiko gold's) i think i might buy some bigger, thicker, stronger ones designed for the punishment i intend to serve

are you saying i should hang out the window and take pictures of myself while sliding round corners and jumping through the air? j.k.

it would be nice to get footage but at this level all rallies are done at night so its hard to get good pics, i might have to make a special effort and get some day time footage, i need to update the pics of my car actually it looks a lot diffrent now that ive changed a few things

Yeah its good to hear about your adventures 1200rc. It gets me pumped to get my car ready. Mind you I dont need anymore enthusiasm I just need some $$$. I start a new job in a couple of weeks so hopefully I will have more $$ to spend on the coupe! Actually I just bought a GX oval port head and twin hitachi SU's, cant wait to chuck it on.

Bugger about the shockie, but as you know, thats rallying, and its all good fun! Hows the car running? Plenty of power once you are let loose in the forrest? Hows that diff going? Does it kick out sideways like conventional LSD's? Are you running some big spotties on the front to boost your vision? When do you get to drive in the day time?

Sorry about all the questions, but Im sure you dont mind.

Simon

hey nizmo havent seen you on here for a few weeks!

moneys always good, found some cheap half decent shocks $140, but i still gotta pay my mate $500 from stacking his rally car so it could be a while

i still need to change the chokes it the carbs, actually one part of the stage was a bitch it was pretty steep and i had to either revs it rings off in second or glug, glug, glug in thind, which was really annoying as i wasnt confident yet i didnt want to be that high in the revs for long periods

the car was pretty fast but navigation hamperred efforts a lot, need to practice a bit with terra-trip

diffs good, actually it leaked where i had mounts welded back onto it about 2 weeks ago and i had to get my mechanic to cut one mount off and reweld it all

i put in a post about max revs or something, i was dragging my brother and missed second gear (in the wet) and it reved out i let the clutch out and the arse end started to overtake the front, the front walked across into my brothers lane cutting him off and after she gripped i launched down the road, then speaking to my brother he says, "ive got to get me one of those sprung loads, thats what happens in my starion" which is LSD obviously, actually i found it quite good during the rally too as on the loose stuff you dont just single spin when you try to boot out of a corner, she just bites, twithces and goes

ive got a pair of big lightforce on the front which came in quite handy although i had them both pointing at the same height which meant going over crests or at the bottom of a steep hill i couldnt see the road ahead very far, four lights would be much better just to get that sort of coverage in those situations

my car is road registered so i take her up the dandenongs occasionally for a bit of practice, i could go during the day for some footage but it would be a little dangerous

the next rally which runs novices is on Nov 30th and it has a day time stage throught the local autocross track so that should be good for some footage cause ill be able to get multiple corners from one stand-point with video (ill be doing this rally, i cant wait)

I had this guy come up to me asking about my 1200 at the start of the event and he went off and came back with another guy and that guy helped me adjust my lights and was talking to me about tyre pressure and he said something like "thats what i reckon anyway" and i said something like "well if youve got experience you know a lot more than i do" and he said "oh, by the way my names Ben Tirrant", my jaw dropped, do you know who that is?, if not hes a 18 or 19 year old driving a mitsubishi evo in the ARC with very big chances of making world rally in the next few years, i think hes going to rally in the RAC, which is the english rally season next year or the year after

actually i was dropping my tyre pressure on his advice and stuffed up with the gauge and before i realised had tyre pressure down to 20 psi (Ben said use 30 psi), so on the first transport i had to stop off at the local petrol station and pump it up again

Hey 1200rc, yeah I have been here, checking the messages but I dont log in everytime I arrive as my puter crashes almost everytime I log in!

Thats gotta suck crashing your mates car, ahh well Im sure you will sort it out.

Yeah that navigation would take a bit of getting used to especially in the dark! Terra trips are wicked but cost a fair bit, did you get yours second hand or new?

The diff in my Ford Falcon ute acts really strange sometimes. In the dry it will single wheel around corners. Hit the dirt and give it a booot load and both wheels light up. Had a bit of a moment the other week. Had a mate of mine following me on the way back to my place and I clutched it in second gear and gave it heaps. The uterus kicked hell sideways to the left then back to the right, then back to the left (at this point I was working the wheel real hard! small sporty with no power steering trying to turn a huge XB Falc!) then I just let it go all the way around as I ran out of lock. This was on tarmac too, fuk she has some go in her! My mate following me loved it!

I havent heard of Ben, I assume he didnt make it to the rally down here in TAS (ARC) because I would have noticed him. There was actually some hell young bloke like 17/18/19 (Im 19) that was racing an EVO (lucky bastard!) but I dont know what happend to him.

Goood to hear from you mate, if im ever over your way it would be nice to catch up and have a beer and talk Dattos hahaha!

Simon

its early days for ben but he looks promising!, maybe in a couple of years youll know

actually geminis seem to have a weird diff, they act like lsd in some circumstances but im not sure how they work, i should pull one apart one day

actually my mechanic who has helped me out a lot lent me a terratrip and nav light for the event, its a spare one hes got which i plan to buy off him but we havent talked price yet cause he knows ive got no money at the moment, he installed the probe and everything for me, hes really good!

im 20 and yeah if theres ever an oppurtunity to have a beer or whatever id love to, its great meeting guys from here (only done it once) and other rally guys cause none of my mates are into cars and they dont know what im talking about and whinge about how i cant come out cause im working on the car or have no money cause i spent it on the car (sounds more ike a girlfriend hey?)

shiet happens, im loving the car and i love driving so they can wait

whens your first rally dude, i reckon youve just gotta set a rally to do and force yourself to have the car ready, signing up to do the rally i just did was the best thing, i spent every dollar and found everything cheap as asking people to help me out (which eveyone was happy to do, and it helped so much) but most of all i was forced to get my car ready in time and the amount of work i did in such a small time was amazing,
now ive done it once its a case of clean it up and fix anything that broke and your ready again, i.e., for the next rally all i gotta do is get those new shocks in and off i go, youve just gotta squezze the budget real hard once and get everything there on the car and youll be right!

im still trying to find cash for insurance for when its on the road and for a cage, and ive gotta pay my mate for his car (that was a real set back), ive also at somestage gotta pay for this terratrip so i guess im a little in debt and needing more gear but at least i can enter as a novice for the moment

I know the feeling about not going out with your mates. Its adictive, saving your money for your car. I dont go out every week like some of my mates, I prefer to get a carton of beer and drink that at a mates place cause its so much cheaper, either that or go to the local pub where I dont have to worry about taxi fares home.

My girlfriend is actually keen to help me biuld the car, more on the $$$ side than working the spanners! She is keen to navigate which suits me just fine!

I love meeting other people who are keen about rally and who have ideas and experience. I am yet to join the local rally club down here. I am a memeber of the new founded TAZDAT car club and all we do is talk Datto's which is great.

When my car is going I expect it to have a cage, suspension, diff and minor motor mods. I dont care too much about power more the reliabilty and handling. It needs a spray job but the body is perfectly straight with no rust.

youve got a navigator? you lucky barstard, they are hard to find!, i second that slab at a mates place thing, whats planned for the suspension and that and what diff, gearbox? ect.ect.

i keep getting multiple posts coming up on me for some reaon, then i have to think of something else to write in the second or third one to cover my mistake!

so, what wheels do you have on your car at the moment?