Since Rally NY didn’t go quite as planned NEFR will be our first official event.  Though we are entered as regional competitors we will be sharing the course with all of the big national teams including drivers such as Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust and regional 2WD heros Chris Duplessis and Luke Sorensen.

Because Rally NY lasted less than one stage most of our car prep can be carried over to Maine.  Unfortunately it only took a mile to crack our windshield so that will need replacement, but otherwise I was able to use our prep time for more detail oriented work including: building a light bar and wiring the driving lights, re-painting our racing stripes on the fenders, adding more storage and a rear-view mirror to the cockpit and making adjustments/modifications to the injection system for a bit more pep.

As an avid recycler and general cheap skate, I fashioned my light bar out of the 1″ tubing that I cut out of my cage when I updated it last month.  I’m pretty happy with how it came out as it’s pretty sturdy and allows for several different light configurations. I plan on adding an additional diagonal bolt-in support in the center.

These lights are super bright, luckily I have a 120 amp alternator.

I painted the light bar with bed liner for stone protection and put the signature stripes back on the fenders. Rally America rules would not permit the cool wing on the back of the car so that was removed for the event but honestly I don’t think it detracts from the look of the car and I really don’t know that it served much purpose.

The cockpit is still a bit cluttered with the stage notes and some other junk from NY but I finally added a cup/bottle holder.

Since the car is mostly straightened out I turned my attention to the trailer where I fashioned a coule of cabinets to keep clutter out of the way and made room for a tool cart. The cabinets proved to be harder to deal with than expected since nothing is square or plumb in the trailer.  My plan was to build everything modularly in the shop then install the units but quickly realized nothing fit against the curved walls even though I tried compensating for them.  In the end I had to just build them in place piece by piece.  Not my finest joinery but it’ll do the job for now and is an improvement over what I started with.

I’m headed out of town for a wedding tomorrow and will be getting back the day before having to head up to Maine so I hope I’m not forgetting anything.  Starting the day after the rally my work schedule gets real hectic so I’ll have to see how many other events can fit in this summer.  Greasefest is on July 25th at the shop in Holyoke

• Posted by: Justin
• Category: Uncategorized

The Team O’Neil Rally School and Control Center located in Dalton NH is the highest regarded rally training facility in North America.  Founded by Rally Champion Tim O’Neil, the school has been training championship rally drivers and security drivers for the US Government for over 10 years.  The classes are small, not exceeding 12 students who rotate in pairs with experienced instructors.

I had chosen to take the full 4 day class which starts on Tuesday mornings in Dalton NH more than 2.5 hrs drive from Holyoke.  After working all day and spending a few hours prepping the car and trailer on Monday night I was able to get a few hours sleep before waking up at 4am to drive to the shop and jump into the truck for the drive.  It was pitch black, cold and raining when I headed north. Why does it seem like all racing activity requires limited sleep and driving in the dark?

I made it to Littleton NH with enough time to fuel up the truck and use the bathroom before heading to the Hampton Inn where the O’neil students were grouping. Turned out our class was nice and small with a total of 8 students, meaning more seat time and more fun.  Once everyone was accounted for we caravaned the 5 or so miles to the O’Neil property in the hills of Dalton.

The motto of the course is “Blah, Blah, Blah… accelerate” and the class is structured as such with very limited class room instruction and maximum seat time.  We started out with an orientation by Chuck one of the head instructors outlining the goals of the course and this hour or so would prove to be the longest classroom period of the week.

By 10:00am we were strapped into a fleet of Reagan area VW Jettas and being introduced to the basics of left foot braking as we each spun circles around the skid pad.  Next we worked on applying the weight transfer produced by left foot braking in the slalom course using minimal steering input and brake pulses to kick the rear end of the car out. As the week went on we would learn how each of these basic fundamentals was added together as our driving course grew longer and faster.

Each instructor has years of competition experience despite their age such as 22 year old Chris Duplessis who has been driving at Team O’Neil for ten years and holds several 2 wheel drive championship titles.  All of them have great people skills and sense of humor which made the class as fun as it was informative.

By the end of day 2 some more powerful all wheel drive Audis and Subarus had been brought in introducing a different level of power and feel.  We also started working on pendulum turns, the classic sliding rally turn often used more for show than speed.

On day three Colin Herrick and I who were the only students interested in pursuing the 2 wheel drive world were teamed up with Chris Duplessis the resident 2WD master and I was given the opportunity to bring the Rabbit out to the course for its first shakedown sessions.  Since the car was generally unfinished I was careful not to try the limits of its integrity but did give it a good shakedown. Chris took the car for a run and decided that we needed to put gravel tires on it since the sidewalls on the slows were so thin.  The O’Neils mechanical crew were great and helped swap a set of gravel tires off of one of Tim’s cars with me at lunch. The tires made a huge difference in traction and agility so I was able to make some good runs. Video

By the time day 4 came around we were all wishing it was a 5 day class but were eager to put everything we learned to use as the course expanded through the facility and offered some new challenges. The Rabbit performed well throughout the day and finished up withough incident.

After the class we all said our goodbyes and exchanged contact info..  I would certainly recommend this class to anyone who can afford it for both fun factor and education.  Seems like almost a must for anyone wanting to pursue stage rally. Colin put together a pretty cool video montage you can see here.

As we were wrapping up Chris told me he found a decent set of used gravel tires in the tire pile for me and since it was Friday and no one was interested in sticking around to help me mount them he did (what a guy!)

With my new, used tires mounted, trailer loaded and head filled with driving instruction, I headed South to Rochester NH for the April NER RallyX.

• Posted by: Justin
• Category: Uncategorized

I had been wanting interested in taking the Team O’Neil driving class for months but had been holding back due to the hefty price tag.  The more people I spoke to the more valuable a driving fundamentals class seemed to be.  A friend had said that they offer a discount if you bring a log booked car to the class.  I called and was offered a 15% discount if my car was drivable in time for the class (6 weeks away).

With my engine mostly together and my transmission back from Jesse at Banchworks (who installed a Kaaz differential for me) and most of the basic parts I needed, I focused on getting the car to drive by class time.

I had bought a set of WRD engine mounts at a VW show last summer which are designed to install a 02A or 02J transmission into a Rabbit shell but I needed to fabricate the front engine mount to complete the package and drop the engine in.

Clearances are very tight with only about 1/8″ between the serpentine belt tensioner and inner fender.  Also, since all the mounts are new the engine is very stiff so we’ll have to wait and see how things settle.

The Greasecar system requires two fuel tanks; one for vegetable oil and one for diesel.  When I bought the shell it had a relatively large fuel cell installed in the rear bulkhead so I fabricated a pair of tanks to use the existing mounting hardware and location.

Though I didn’t build the shifter tower I did have to cut off the original shift box and weld on the Beetle box that I had.  It appears as though it is a bit high so it may need some tweaking.

Modified shifting tower

DMC and clutch master

I had been playing with a long runner intake manifold design for my other Rabbit a couple of years ago but ended up getting sidetracked. When I saw how well the left over water cooled intercooler from the Baja build nested into the manifold runners I decided that I had to finish it. My biggest challenge was routing the charge pipes in such close quarters, fortunately I was able to find a tight radius 180 bend to loop the cooler and intake together.  Also couldn’t resist making a custom GCMotorsports valve cover for some added flare.

With everything finally in place after weeks of routing and fabrication we were ready for the first test run.

After hearing the engine come to life there was no turning back and within the week driveshafts were in and an exhaust quickly thrown together for a parking lot run.

With just a few weeks to class I received an email that there was a 25% off deal for a class a week earlier and I was able to make the change.  I knew the car wouldn’t be as complete as I wanted it but it is running!

• Posted by: Justin
• Category: Uncategorized