The son's race car experience

[Tom Smit]

My ratty 77 camino hay hauler manages a modest high 12 at my local 1/4 mile. [/attachment]

Modest???? I think that's quite respectable!

[jcmbowman]

I absolutely admire the DIY racers. My wife's father was a race and stunt car driver in his youth, and she has many tales of the early days of racing in the U.S. where your ability to wrench under that hood and then drive to the limits of the vehicle were the deciding factors, rather than how much $$$ could be thrown into it. I still enjoy watching racing, but only at that level - rally cars, local/regional racing, etc all still have that authentic feel, whereas Indy and NASCAR racing have degenerated into another corporate-controlled venue.

[Gauss]

My grandfathers on both sides were racers back when cutting-edge technology was within the reach of your home garage. They passed on a lot of classic car interest and great stories, but I don't have the resources for any kind of car hobby.

Until I get a garage and cash to proceed, I get to enjoy riding my motorcycle: cheap, practical and way more fun than most cars.

[Drey Chennells]

Nice,

My grandfathers on both sides were racers back when cutting-edge technology was within the reach of your home garage. They passed on a lot of classic car interest and great stories, but I don't have the resources for any kind of car hobby.

Until I get a garage and cash to proceed, I get to enjoy riding my motorcycle: cheap, practical and way more fun than most cars.

Nice, an old school 500cc v twin, in great shape too.. cool engine.

[gordon77]

Hey ppl Gordon here, Harleys son. He linked me in on this thread, couldnt help but join to add some more photos since there are a few interested. Also i was live audio tech in my previous life so am interested to have a look around to see what the old man raves about every monday night

The theme is obviously 'rat rod', it took about 2 years to build with a total cost of $5000 NZD, that includes cage/shell etc. Many parts scrounged from a place called Pick a Part (i think they have some in the states too) to keep costs down, The badge is Mitsu but it has toyota, GM, Ford and believe it or not Lada parts in it haha.

Before: It came rolling with the motor, gearbox, front/rear diff etc. Interior was stripped to the bone


After: Evo motor, Evo custom short ratio gearbox, LSD's front and rear, evo brakes and suspension. 340Hp at the wheels, 0-400m 11.8sec, top speed estimated 230km/h

[Tom Smit]

Hey, welcome Gordon!

11.8 seconds in a quarter mile is pretty good!

Are all Evo motors turbo'd?

[Harley]

Welcome Gordon

This is the first time I've seen the "Before Pic". Makes me appreciate the effort you put in even more.

[67baja]

Reminds me of my old "67 baja" bug. I transplanted a Ford 2.3 turbo motor from an 88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe into that VW after I blew a hole the size of my fist out of the VW engine case. With the 2.3 Ford engine and the boost up over 20 psig, it put down around 225-250 horses and over 300 ft/lbs of torque. In a light car like that that, it was quicker than my old '72 big block Nova.

Up until very recently, my son and I raced desert bikes with our race local club which was great father son time. We team raced the night race series on my WR450. Super good memories of that. Think "Dust to Glory" on a smaller scale - only 80-100 mile races through rocks, small boulders, washes, trees, sand, rocks, water, more rocks (notice I didn't mention dirt - there is no real dirt here), and maybs some more rocks after that. Now my son is 18 and WAY more interested in hanging out with his friends and chasing girls than spending time racing with me. It may be better this way since it seems like we have spent way too much money at the ortho surgeon the last couple years. He broke his collar bone into a Z which required an 8" plate and lots o' screws and I exploded my wrist and radius - requiring lots of pins and a cast. He also broke both legs (tib/fib) when he was 11 due to a nasty crash at a motocross school. I have some other medical issues which causes the doc to try talk me out of dirt bikes. Actually that is why I started building speakers. I needed something to fill my mind and keep me busy in the garage now that I am trying to not ride or build bikes. Sadly, I just got rid of a couple of my bikes this last weekend. It sucks to grow up !
My kid wants us to build a rally car some time, but I doubt we will since there is no real place to just go race it around here. A desert truck or sand rail would be fun though. Hmmm....