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Jan 11, 2012 21:23:26 GMT
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These were sold as a 121 Coupe, with a piston engine. A mate of mine has an rx5 13b version, but I don't know if it was imported or if they were sold in that configuration in Australia.
Victoria and South Australia seem to have more retro's than the rest of Australia, although Queensland does ok.
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Well I haven't updated this in a while. Not a huge amount of action modification wise, although I did end up buying and fitting a rear sway bar from a turbo model which improved turn in a lot. Need to get used to how tail happy it is at speed now though! Managed to cut a few seconds off my time at our local track and also competed in the Mattara Hillclimb, which runs through a park on the Newcastle foreshore and has done for over 50 years, despite the best efforts of the local residents (seriously, the event has been running longer than these people have been alive, for one weekend a year - pull your head in!) A friend took some happy snaps: So much power.... Bit of understeer... Arty shot in the pits The beast now wears mesh rims all round (not quite matching unfortunately) after I discovered that 2 of my Sigma rims were badly damaged in the lug nut seats, resulting in a serious wobble. Plans for this season, should I ever get my licence, involve more seat time, having a good crack at the local championship and at some point installing an LSD and coilovers (please send all donatiosn to....)
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We got these as a Holden Commodore over here - I wish more people did them like that in Australia, that looks fantastic!
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Pretty wicked looking Falcon for sure! As for paying $5000 for one in Malta, a rough 6 cylinder is worth a few hundred here. $5k AUD would buy you a 351 XE, which I am a fan of, possibly thanks to Uncle Dick:
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Last Edit: Dec 31, 2011 3:10:46 GMT by courseout
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Same stud pattern as Aussie Ford Falcons and, I presume, their American cousins. I thought one of these on 16x10 Performance Challengers (Bathurst Globe copy) would be the absolute business
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Oct 19, 2011 22:13:29 GMT
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GTR-X is my favourite, was based off the Torana xu-1 and was very close to production from memory - real shame it never happened, would've been an epic car and Australia's only volume sports car
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Oct 13, 2011 21:51:00 GMT
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If you go the 13's get hodl of some 175/50 tyres. There is a Mini place that sells them in Australia in a Yokohama a539, your local tyre place might be able to special order them for you? These are an interesting little car - I reckon grab a front subframe from a Suzuki GTi and weld it in behind the seats
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Oct 11, 2011 22:33:16 GMT
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That's a great looking meteor! I remember these and the later "bubble back" Lasers being everywhere when I first got my licence. The bubble backs handled amazingly well for what they were from memory (keeping in mind I owned what was the equivalent of a Ferrari for an 18 year old - a mk1 Suzuki GTi!) but it seems the rate of attrition for them was still high.
There was a twin carb version of the kb lift back, would be a good way to get a few more HP but keep it looking stock under the bonnet?
Man I hate huntsmans, big awful meaty things they are
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Glad to hear you are leaning toward hillclimbs, I've done 3 in the 3 months since I finished uni, and I certainly couldn't have afforded to do that many circuit events. As an example, once a year our club has a two day hillclimb at King Edward Park in Newcastle. It is counted among the most challenging hillclimbs in Australia, and is one of the longest running events as well (54th running this year). It was a mere 15 minutes from my house, I had a quarter of a tank of fuel so I didn't even have to fill up! And a friend shot these photos so I can prove that I was in an honest to goodness race! (Extra points if you wear an open face like me so everyone can see your "ooh err understeer" face!)
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Ah yes the year 2000 - I was 16, with a similar taste in music, but my steed was a Haro Mirra Flair. At the time all freestyle bike ssubscribed to the overbuilding trend. My Mirra, with Odyssey Hazard wheelset, 4 pegs and ridiculously narrow bars weighed somewhere around 45 pounds!
I remember that DMC started on K2 (he had ridden for Mongoose since the late 80's and had a signature bike with them) about the time I started riding - the very first issue of BMX Plus! that I bought had a feature on Dennis and his new K2 team mate Parker (can't remember his first name). K2 was going to be the next big thing in bmx at the time, but to be honest I don't think they lasted more than a couple of years in the market? DMC is still riding and ripping it up though!
As for the rust, get yourself a plastic tub and fill it with white vinegar and soak the forks and bars in it for 12 - 24 hours, then clean it thoroughly with warm soapy water and make sure you get as much of the water/vinegar from inside teh forks, etc as possible as it will eat into the metal if left. Then just buff it up with autosol and jobs done! I wouldn't recommend using wire wool, I have foudn ti tends to leave swirl marks in the chrome
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Love the Beetle and the 2002!
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Ah yes the Hyundai Excel - bagged relentlessly in Australia but as mentioned previously they even have their own rally series here. There is also a company called RPW in Western Australia that sells heaps of performance parts, including quad throttle set ups!
They are nigh on unkillable, and even in Australia they are worth next to nothing!
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Sept 29, 2011 4:10:31 GMT
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Very cool! There is a fellow who hill climbs locally who has a twin mini engined special. From what I understand he has been driving it a very long time. here is some footage from our local track
I very much like that Cooper though, love that sort of thinking.
"we need more power" *looks around* "Lets just put a motor in the back" "brilliant!"
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Sept 18, 2011 23:29:23 GMT
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Wow, the paint on those is stunning! I'd be scared to ride the Kona, it's too nice!
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Sept 14, 2011 1:07:51 GMT
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Beautiful! Always nice to see one of these - they rust really badly in Australia, so I imagine it must be amazingly difficult to find a solid one over there?
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Sept 13, 2011 23:29:51 GMT
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Oh man, what an epic car! Have you had a chance to test it out on the twisties yet? Always thought something like this would be huge fun - massive power, with the ability to stop and turn as well! Good for scaring BMW drivers at the track too no doubt
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Sept 13, 2011 23:13:32 GMT
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Obviously things are different over on this side of the pond, but it really depends on what sort of racing you want to do.
Hillclimbs and autotests (I believe similar to what we call motorkhanas?) are at the cheaper end of the spectrum. They also tend to be a bit easier on equipment and consumables. For example, a set of street tyres will do a season of hillclimbs in Australia (our course are generally under 500m long though, so bear that in mind) while you will liekly destroy that same set of tyres in 1 track day.
If it is door to door racing you are after that makes things a little more difficult. I'd say you guys have a similar licencing system over there, with different level licences depending on the class/type of racing to be done. We have some great 1 make classes here (HQ Holdens and Commodore Cup being the main ones) which are generally the cheapest, and based on readily available cars. For example, a mid level HQ can be had here for $5000 - $7500 which is peanuts in race car terms! I would assume the situation is similar in England?
Our oval racing is a littl ebit different but the classes are somewhat similar. We race on dirt exclusively, and the cars are prepared accordongly. This is a form of racing that can be as cheap as you like (we have "street stocks" which are basically 6 cylinder road cars with roll cages and the doors welded up, through to sprint cars, with 700hp mechanically injected v8's). One good thing is there tends to be more ovals about than full race circuits. (An observation from my visits to England, so I might be incorrect)
The best way to get into it would be to get onto race car classifieds and see what falls into your budget. Withotu fail it is cheaper to buy an existing, sorted car than build from scratch. Then look into the class that car fits into (it iwll usually be listed in the ad) and research how that class is going. If it is a good strong class then there is likely a forum. Get on there, talk to the guys currently competing and see what costs look like. Things like fuel and tyre wear add up rapidly. You will also find towing a race car all over the countryside gets expensive quickly as well!
Also make sure you can either do most fo your routine mechanical work yourself or have mechanically able friends who are willing to travel with you for beer - if it wasn't for the beer economy in Australia I doubt we'd have motor racing in any form!
Hope this helps, I've pit crewed on a variety of circuit and oval cars so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.
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Wow! That looks spectacular! Hope it gets a nice shiny coat of paint so all that awesome metal work gets the look it deserves!
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Aug 28, 2011 22:46:54 GMT
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Never really been a huge fan of MGA's but that really pushes my buttons! Looks brutish, but still light and delicate (ish)
Want!
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Very cool stuff, love these sort of builds, reminiscent of the real early "clunker" mountain bike and early bmx cruiser guys.
If you're having trouble getting the odl bull dog brakes to grab well I have been told swapping to modern v-brake pads does wonders. I am goign to try it out on my cruiser tomorrow, I will let you know if it helps keep me out of the trees!
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