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Sept 27, 2012 23:21:23 GMT
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Good morning all! Some of you may remember a thread I started a while ago about my search for a new (old) car. As yet no one has purchased my s13, so it i somewhat on the back burner.... However I have stumbled across a mk2 Cortina I rather like. I like the colour, the wheels, the 70's style modifications. My better half likes. I like it. The only fly in the ointment is the fact it has a steering box. Now the only steering box equipped vehicles I have driven have been commercial vehicles and not a good point of comparison to the various rack and pinion cars I have driven over the years. My question is - are steering boxes really that bad? I have seen on a few forums a lot of people suggesting that an r&p conversion is essential for spirited driving. My intention is to use the car for weekend jaunts and to hit the track on occasion (I realise a mk2 Cortina needs other updates to cop track use, so no dramas there) So is the Cortina a worthwhile option, keeping in mind my net of cars within my budget is mk2 Escort, Holden Gemini (Opel Kadett) and some live axle Datsuns? Or am I going to be endlessly frustrated by the steering when pushing on? Thanks in advance for your assistance, here is a mk2:
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Sept 24, 2012 0:33:35 GMT
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Another vote for keeping the lights, I really like that look! Very nice Hutch hiding in the reflection there too mate
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Jul 31, 2012 22:52:00 GMT
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I like that a huge amount - nice photos!
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Jul 25, 2012 22:29:38 GMT
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That looks brilliant, nice one! The white sedan on SSR's(?) in the first post is great as well. These are a bit of a forgotten car here, if more looked like your aerodeck that wouldn't be the case!
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Jul 19, 2012 23:10:43 GMT
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Lots of good advice in here! I cannot stress enough how important tyre pressures are - at a one hillclimb I was in a rush and didn't check tyre pressures. Car was an understeering mess and I was really disappointed. Next time I prepared properly and pumped the tyres to 35psi all round. It was liek night and day, that car became nice and neutral and was a pleasure to drive. And I was faster to boot!
Hopefully you won't have too many heroes in your class and all the cars should be fairly evenly matched. I did a day in a mates non turbo jza80 Supra and had a big portion of my last session (which was one of the last ever track days at Oran Park before it got turned into houses) ruined by a clown in an STI who could only drive fast on the straights and spent the corners tip toeing around with his mirrors full of Supra....
In short, don't be that guy - not only will you annoy the other drivers, but you increase the likelihood of car to car contact (accidental or otherwise!)
And I will echo the warnings of others here - it is obscenely addictive, that 20 minutes is going to end up being very expensive indeed!
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Wow, really looking forward to how this turns out, I have always liked the idea of an old "stock car" style street rod (wide steels, radiused guards, no bumpers) that could actually hold it's own on a track or hillclimb. It looks like you've read my mind to an extent, top form!
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Jun 28, 2012 23:35:20 GMT
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Jun 28, 2012 23:28:44 GMT
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Wow, just wow! I love it! You've managed to be totally unique without ruining the things that make the Lotus great, I'm hugely impressed!
Out of interest, how is the handling with the air?
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May 29, 2012 23:20:51 GMT
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They used to do this sort of thing back in the day on the shale at our local speedway (Heddon Greta Speedway - before my time unfortunately!)
A super sedan driver I used to crew for told me about one night when a fellow in athen new e49 Charger (300hp, 4.3L straight six on triple webbers!) decided to have a go and stuck it backwards into the wall. Expensive night at the roundy rounds that must have been!
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Just had this discussion with my long suffering fiance after buying a lotto ticket ($70m, the odds are dreadful, but they improve a great deal if you buy a ticket). She decided we could spend $100k each on cars (her choice being a newish BMW 3 series and an MG Midget for sunny weekends) but I went with: 1. Porsche 911 RS clone based on an early 80's non turbo - upgrade the brakes, fit RS replica bucket seats and an exhaust, done 2. A Suzuki Swift mk1 Gti (my first car) fully restored in blood red, upgraded suspension, 4 wheel disks from later model, 13" wheels with sticky rubber, drive everywhere on 3 wheels with the little g13b revving to 8k 3. Holden Gemini (Opel Kadett) Coupe tarmac race car - built Suzuki g13b, quad throttles, revving to 10000rpm, biggest brakes that will fit under 13's, sticky rubber, KW suspension and stripped with roll cage, opel GTE works colour scheme 4. Toyota Corona dirt rally car, caged, built 22re, the whoel bit (mate just built a cheap version - something about it pushes my buttons) 5. mk2 Escort, classic style (2 up 2 down cibies, minilites, built x flow) 6. Late 70's Holden Commodore station wagon, LS1/six speed slammed on BBS for towing the toys/carting bmx bikes about Oops, I think I dusted up my budget there. I'd get there eventually though
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Wow, the camo was cool but I am absolutely loving this latest incarnation. With the RS 4 spokes on it it looks like an Eastern Block version of a Sunbeam or Chevette HSR.
Absolutely love it, wish they had made it to Australia, because that is definitely a bit of me!
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Anyone who truly loves racing would have a shiver down their back reading that. I remember hearing about Senna's death and thinking that someone so brilliant, so talented, could not possibly die in a race car
Excellent post
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Ah yes, that looks like some work! Yeah I have run a locker before - definitely went well, but this time around I want a car that my fiance doesn't mind taking for a drive (she was fine with the race seats and dellortos on the corolla but hated the locker!). For hillclimbs I doubt I would need the big enough brakes to require 15's, and I really love the 13" look. I have played with webers before and you're spot on on costs. Another option I considered was bike carbs or throttle bodies. I really wanted to avoid efi swaps if possible though, been there, done than and have less hair because of it! The other factor is if it all goes bang then it's easier to get an SOHC head than a twin cam. This is a list of the clubs down your way: hillclimbvic.com.au/clubs/I'd get in contact with the one closest to you that has a track (if you are near Haunted Hills you are a lucky so and so) and have a chat to them. Everyone told me that my local MG club were tools but they have beennothing but welcoming to me and my friends - all for the love of motorsport I guess!
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That is a sharp looking sedan mate - that with a set of 13x7's would tick all the boxes!
I did have that concern looking at the LSD set ups. I wonder for the money if it might just be cheaper to swap in a shortened BW78? Engine wise I was thinking g200, g161 head, webers cam and extractors. That should get close to 100whp? I was reading about the Targa Gemini which is supposedly getting 130whp from a 1.6! How hard are the DOHC engines to get/find parts for? DOHC on bike carbs sounds niiiice
As for the hillclimbs I have been competing for a whiel in my Silvia and before that in my Corolla. Our local club has meets monthly that can be entered as one off's and sxome of them are part of state or interclub championships. If you get in contact with your local club I would've thought they'd be able to provide you with a calendar of events? In Our championships you can enter one event at a time, rather than registering to do a full "season". Do you know what club is closest to you?
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I was under the impression that most Mitsubishi 4 cylinder engines share the same gearbox bolt pattern, so a 4g63 shouldn't be a problem to install. I am assuming yours is a 2 litre Astron motor? In Australia ours had a 2.6, and I know of one that is run in Targa Tasmania (in a Scorpion, what you guys might know as a Celeste i think? Basically Sigma 2 door) that is taken out to 3L and is an absolute weapon. These also came in triton units (L200 I believe, and probably later versions as well). I have heard from local rally guys that the 2.6 + a set of Webers and headers/exhaust is good for 100whp and oddles of torque. Given your budget and it's bolt in nature it sounds like a good option to me? RPW in Western Australia used to have a lot to do with these motors but no longer has the information on it's website - they might be worth an email though? www.rpw.com.au
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Yeah but the thing is I actually want an old school, rally inspired, live axle car. I already have a "late model" (because 1991 is late you see) that does everything "better" than an old Gemini or similar.
I really should do more research regarding the RTS - if it is bolt in style things then I agree, clean body is key. I had assumed for some reason it was more involved than that. In regards to engines hill climb classes hamstring engine swaps to some extent. Classes are split into under and over 2 litre, then numbered from 1 -4 (for sedan based cars) with 1 being showroom stock and 4 being a a space framed sports sedan. An engine swap within the same family (i.e. Holden into Holden) bumps you to type 3 where I have seen a g200 Gemini be competitive, but if you ran the 2.6 then you end up in the over 2L portion of this class and that is the preserve of some ridiculous machinery.
My plan would be to run in type 3 with an LSD (there is someone on Ozgemini making these I believe) and around 100hp at the wheels. Nothing crazy, just a predictable, tail happy spitting and snarling little car, ha ha
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Heaps of good info guys, thank you everyone for your responses! Espeacially you f3ared, that is an aweosm eright up! I basically came to similar conclusions regarding the suspension - it seemed like it was a better "out of the box" set up than an equivalent Escort. The plan would be to start with an RTS TD - just have to sell off my Silvia first. It's a shame the Gemini Coupes are so rare these days as that is what I would ideally like. There are 2 for sale from one bloke on a few sites but I'd say they'll be gone by the time i get my finger out
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Apr 26, 2012 12:08:57 GMT
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While I like all your options let me just leave these here Flames... Loving the positive votes for the humble Gemini here too guys - I was beginning to think they might be a hateful thing as they aren't really used much for motorsport here, other than a one make series that is more based on cheapness and one genius who does this:
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Apr 26, 2012 12:05:23 GMT
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love all your choices, I'd go for the GM option personally, only because they're a bit less common. how about: Opel Manta? Isuzu Piazza? E30? MX5? Volvo 360? Manta wasn't sold here, Piazza's are super rare as are Volvo 360's. I actually considered both the mx5 and the e30 when I bought the s13, they are a bit new for what I am keen on though Datsun 1600's seem to be silly money lately (as in dearer than an Escort silly) which scrubs them off the list. The vast majority have been rallied, can't remember seeing one on the road that wasn't a rally car in my whole 27 years! Also I don't really like them, sorry Don't know that we got the Riva's here? We definitely got Niva 4WD's, and the Samara
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