Any E30 rallyists here?

[psyber_0ptix]

last year NEFR was brutal to many cars, even Bill Caswells. Hope to be there to pound out the dents next time. I'm back sept2, maybe i can accompany in october? :)

[SlapDash]

Damn, Ferd! That's some hits!

Thanks for the compliments on the car too, we worked really, really hard on it. Only two more years to Historic Class!

I'll definitely do it again, even Maine. I'm designing a steel oil pan in my head, so it'll bend rather than shatter.

Wicked fun stuff.

KennyT, LSPR is a little far for me at this point (though never out of the realm of possibility). I think I have to get a job first.

If the planets align, I might hit Rally New York in October (the sprint).

Back into the garage...

[KennyT]

Well done guys. I just got back home after a 20 hour drive back from Maine. The event went really well despite having to retrieve a car 16 miles into a stage...

I didn't get the chance to meet either Kris or Ferd, are either of you contemplating LSPR? Word is it will be a two day event and possibly north of Houghton.

[Ferdinand]

Now I know why Maine is a 'car breaker'.

Don't let that discourage you. Not all rallies are that rough. This was our third year running NEFR and this year was by far the roughest event we've ever seen anywhere.

I think I was more excited about seeing you finally make it to your first rally, than with running it ourselves. Your car is beautiful! I'm jealous. It really looks like it is well-built. Most of all, you guys drove smart and didn't get in over your heads.

The rock in the oil pan was unfortunate and could have happened to anyone, and certainly did to plenty of other people.

Day-1 went spectacularly well for us in the Nissan 240SX.

Day-2 however, not so much...

We punctured the right-rear tire on Stage-8, Sturtevant Pond Long, and tried to continue driving out on it. We might have made it, except then we whacked another big rock, bent the crap out of the right-front wheel rim, and that tire went flat too. Following that the car would still turn to the right okay, but left not at all.

So we were forced to stop and change both flats. Luckily we were carrying two spares, but the time wasted swapping those on stage pretty much scuppered any chance of a good finish.

[SlapDash]

Yes. You need to come back from the 'ring and get under the car. Despite a successful finish on Day 1, the first regional rally, on Day 2, I hit a rock so huge my a** still hurts. This shattered the oil pan, despite the skid plate AND a heavy tube bash bar built around the pan.

Now I know why Maine is a 'car breaker'.

Still, we had a great time and are already planning for the next event.

Many thanks to Ferdinand, who brained up my co-driver on the intricacies of navigating both at speed and during transits.

Also many, many thanks to Bill Doyle at cagethis.com for his exhaustive efforts in getting me to the rally. He even let me use his tow rig and trailer (he hasn't even used it yet!).

And of course, thanks to Wifey, who despite her better judgment, agreed to be my Crew Chief (she's not a car person). She did a great job.

[psyber_0ptix]

Kris, thats awesome! Congratulations. I hope I can help out with tech next year

[SlapDash]

Thanks Ferdinand!

And thanks for all the help with the navigation stuff. Without you, we'd still be trying to figure out how to get to the stage.

Cheers

[Ferdinand]

Huge congratulations to Team Slapdash on their debut at the New England Forest Rally!!

[SlapDash]

Let's just say I've hit my Panic Button so many times, it shattered all over the floor (so I guess this means I can't panic anymore...).

Just solved a big tires/wheels/helmet issue all in one day. Otherwise, I'm flat to the mat, but I think I'll make it.

I'm getting the car back tomorrow, so I can throw the rest of the stuff in it. I have all the stuff, but I need to install the fire extinguishers, first-aid kit, spill kit, triangles, padding, hood pins, window wiring (my primadonna co-driver wants windows that actually go down on transit stages), rear shocks, visual package, exhaust, etc.

The skid plate is almost finished and my guy rigged up a killer bash bar for our E30's notoriously low-slung oil pan. It's almost like the engine itself has its own roll cage.

I don't plan on exhaling until after the rally, so that means I've been holding my breath for quite some time now.

I'll be there!

[Ferdinand]

So SlapDash, how's progress? Are you gonna be ready in time for the New England Forest Rally? It's only 3 weeks away!!

Need some inspiration? Last year each of the 2wd MaxAttack entries got these nifty videos made of them by the MaxAttack film crew.



Here's crazy-man Bill Caswell flogging his "$500" Craigslist E30. This is what you're going to look like, except hopefully you won't be quite as crazy since Caswell's run ended early when he hit a big tree, or was it a big rock, or maybe even several of each...




This was Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino. Their rally also ended prematurely and very abruptly in this crash.




Here are Martin and me in the Nissan 240SX. At 1:05, that's Alex Gelsomino holding up an OK sign at the scene of Block's wreck. Their car is out of view down in the trees.



The "Yeeeeha, Holy is that an awesome stage!" comment was made at the end of the Stage 5 - South Arm Long. Here's our in-car video of this awesome stage in two parts.

Part 1:


Part 2:

[silence]

Agreed

[SlapDash]

Awesome pics!

[iamsam]

Rally pics!!!!

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=209848

[SlapDash]

Good luck guys, let us know how it goes!

[iamsam]

Let's keep this thread going!!! MasterOfPuppets and I will be rallying this weekend on the rally curcuit out here in CO. He will be driving his E30 that he is rally prepping, and I will be biffing it in an old E28 that I picked up just for this purpose. Look for pics this Saturday evening!!