Simonoz Posted 21May, 2014 Report Share Posted 21May, 2014 Well it's that time of year again. The first Targa event for those of us in WA. Targa South West. In a triumph of expenditure over time in the car, we are ready with our new 1974 Carrera RS. Prepared beautifully by RJP Motorsport, it's rather special and might be of interest to some of you? If anyone's up for it I would like to send some photos which you could resize and post on this thread please? They show the car before and after. Please PM me if you'd like to help. In return, I'll give you a ride one day if you're keen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
550Spyder Posted 22May, 2014 Report Share Posted 22May, 2014 Simon I am the last person to be able to help as I am an it Luddite. However I am very keen to hear what you have done to the car and particularly some lessons learned from the process of things you are glad you did vs things you would do differently. I am about to start a 73 RSR backdate so very interested in your experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Obviously SimonOZ's car, not mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC9911 Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Oh, this is very, very nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-banger Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 That's porn. Congrats Simon on a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-p Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Looks fantastic Simon. Congratulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevMcRev Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Beautiful job! Any cockpit images? I Always love to see interior set up of rally cars.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterP Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Simon, that thing looks brilliant, what a great job.....inside pics please..!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveT Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Yes, car porn, love it. And the colour is a bit different but I like it a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 23May, 2014 Report Share Posted 23May, 2014 Very impressive, wouldn't expect anything less!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonoz Posted 27May, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 27May, 2014 Thanks for all the goodwill and kind remarks, guys, It was most appreciated. My replacement IPad has finally arrived so I'm back on the air and trying to catch up. Everyone and everything is back home in one piece after a terrific weekend. The truck works really well as a transporter, and we didn't have too many scares other than a cracking spin on some diesel or oil that popped up in a town stage that was dry for reccie, but as wet as it gets in the event. There is a fair bit of stress involved with these events, as the workload and, in this case, the weather conditions, can really take it out of you. The rain just didn't let up last weekend, but happily the car was a strong, stable platform, and my new novice co-driver Andy did a sterling job. Not one wrong call all weekend, quite remarkable for a new guy and the future looks bright for our partnership. Now we just need to knock out the bump steer with some new spindles, change the gearbox ratios to suit Tarmac rallies rather than track use (7,000rpm in top equates to 190kmh when we really want 210 or so), and 1st and 2nd are too high to get us off the line and around the town stages the organisers love (and we dislike). Targa West next in mid August for us we've decided. If any of you WA PFA'ers are around on Sunday July 20 we will be at Kwinana Motorplex for a Rallysprint event, combined with Sponsors Day for Targa West. Because we are self funded (read too slack to chase money even though our car would have won Best Presented everyone reckons) I might be able to give some of you a ride if you're keen. Just PM me to get in touch. I promise not to scare you too much.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
550Spyder Posted 31May, 2014 Report Share Posted 31May, 2014 Nice car, looks good in gulf colours. Glad to hear that first event went well. Look forward to hearing your build story some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonoz Posted 2June, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2014 It's probably best to stick with this thread for the build details so here we go..... I started looking early last year for a 1974 Carrera RS that complied with the Tarmac regs as they stand. The rules tend to come and go a bit as the ownership and allegiances of the organisers change, but in essence I was looking for a near perfect replica of a 1974 RS, not a hot rodded, gutted pastiche. That narrowed the field down to three main players. An orange RS in Sydney that whilst beautifully built was too highly modified for my liking, albeit faster. A blue RS in NSW that didnt comply with the engine it had in it, but had a good history. A white RS in Victoria that had yet to run in competition, was highly specced, but had my pet hate of an oil tank on the co drivers feet, courtesy of a cut firewall. I really liked that car, but could not wear the firewall cut as it just ruined the integrity of the car for me. Then, right under my nose here in WA, popped up a 2005 built RS that fitted the bill perfectly. It had been built on an Australian 930 Turbo chassis that was as straight as a die, at high expense, for a guy who like me wants everything right. What it lacked was my mechanics expertise in such matters, so after some slight negotiation in December last year, it became my next project. Straight away the car went to my gun mechanic with a brief to simonise it. In our world that means, please iron out the bugs, and make it a turn key, top quality car. This car, whilst essentially sound, lacked a whole lot of finishing touches, so after putting a list together off we went. The list went something like this. The 915 box was newly rebuilt, but it wasn't mounted in the car correctly, so a new mount was fabricated to stop the box moving around! That one surprised us. The gearlever was hitting the under-dash roll bar so we lengthened the lever, and bent it to clear the bar. The oil lines in the front trunk needed re routing. The front bumper need to come off to delete a ghastly square hole that someone had cut to vent an oil cooler. We engineered a more elegant aluminium duct via the brake duct hole. The firebomb lines all needed rerouting to clear the occupants. The engine wiring needed redoing, as did the underdash wiring. Lots of cable ties, excess wiring, and tape got binned in that exercise. The 17" Witham wheels needed rerolling and polishing, then fitting with new Dunlop stickies. A new Monit rally computer, Terratrip intercom, and RallySafe unit was fitted. The lightweight glass doors had to come off, and the original steel doors and glass windows were refitted. Sounds easy, it wasnt. When that was finished and the front bumper was back on we called in the original painter of the car, who buffed it and touched it up where necessary. Nice result on that exercise, most satifying. New brake lines, pads, fluids were put in. The rear suspension was dismantled and set up up properly. The cambers and castors were all over the place, now they are right. The front we did the same to, and realised that against all logic, no raised spindles had been fitted. Bump steer is the result of that gaff, and its something we are now working on to have ready for Targa West. We bolted in new seats, new harnesses, and reset the fire bomb, at the same time making sure that the bomb was protected from accidental use by disarming it. Then the dyno was booked to tune the new engine that came in the car. That turned out to be a bit tricky, until the guys found the incorrect jets in one carby. It couldnt ever have been right, but once that was picked up, it came good with some good numbers. There is more to come we think through more ignition advance, but it was enough to get us going for now. The final act was to corner balance the car. Given the appalling alignment settings, we suspected this would be interesting. Little did we know what we would find though. It turns out that the car was balanced as if it had a 100 kg driver in the left hand seat, almost exactly the opposite of what we needed. So, adjust it we did, with good results. The car now drives very well, and with the spindles sorted, it will be even better. We have to run the car fairly loose to handle the country roads used in Targas, and as I like my cars that way, its fine as is. The big remaining issue is the gearbox, which has track ratios in it. That will be will coming out for a revamp shortly with an 8/35 ring gear and pinion, standard first and second, and close ratio third fourth and fifth going in. Id like to try the Albins dog gears but I might not win the argument on that one. What we will agree on is that we want a shorter first and second to get the rocket launch off the line, with a top end of 210 or thereabouts. The net result of all this effort, and enjoyment, is a very effective car. Too heavy to beat a coil over hotrod at 1069kgs, but just a lovely car to own and enjoy. We could lighten it more, but its never going to be as light as an RS built on an earlier shell without galvanising, and we dont want to bastardise it. It still has all the nice 911 qualities, and if it wasnt so noisy courtesy of the exhaust and light interior, you could drive it anywhere. With a helmet on, its fine, and thats all that matters. Financially its worked out pretty well. Im in front of where I would be had I bought any of the other three RS's on the market at the time. Providing the new engine holds up, Ill stay in front, but thats always a risk given my mechanic didnt build it. It has all the right bits in it, but you never know. It feels ok for now, but its early days. I think with these little journeys you just have to accept the risks involved, and get on with it. So fingers crossed, we will do the gearbox and spindles, and off we go again. Im sure I've missed some things out but if they come to me Ill add them to the thread later. Feel free to ask anything you might want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 2June, 2014 Report Share Posted 2June, 2014 Holy big post, batman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 2June, 2014 Report Share Posted 2June, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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