Ojibwe Forests Pro Rally 2002
Posted 03-18-2008 at 05:57 PM by Dave532
Pre Race: The rally car was officially totaled at the last rally in Park Rapids MN. I had two and a half months to build a new rally car. Luckily I had become the local 'DSM recycling yard' and had accumulated a few DSM's in various conditions over the past few months; an overheated blue Talon, white eclipse with a bad trans, black cherry Talon with a bad turbo, black Talon with bent valves, etc.
I would strip some for parts, combine others to sell as a complete car and finally keep the black shell as my basis for the new rally car.
Also during this time I was rebuilding the motor from the blue Talon as a (hopefully never needed) spare. I decided to mate the fresh motor to the old rally transmission. I cut the roll cage in 4 pieces and reinstalled it into the black shell. The DMS suspension, rally computer, intercom, seats, belts, anything salvageable went into the new car. Stripped down to its shell, the old red rally car got winched on to the trailer and left for the crusher.
With only 2 weeks before the Ojibwe Forest Rally, the car was complete...except for paint...Black shell, green hood and doors. My sometimes-crew chief Chade had a free gallon of maroon paint from his employer (customer exclaimed it was the right color, wrong system).
Never painting a car before, I spent a couple days prepping and sanding the body in preparation for giving it 2 coats of this maroon paint. After curing, I realized something was wrong, the paint was textured! After examination by a painter buddy, we found my new HVLP paint gun was defective. It was now crunch-time...3 days before the rally. I completely re-sanded the car and re-shot the night before the event. I was hoping to spend more time breaking in the engine but my '2 week' paint job prevented that from
happening.
So, Thursday night I broke the motor in while driving the four hours to Bemidji, MN while the fresh paint was curing. My crew followed behind with the service vehicle and trailer. We made it to our motel with no apparent issues and hit the sack. The paint job was still nothing to be proud of but at least it was all one color!
After some research I realized the DMS damper settings were much too hard for the wet gravel I experienced at Headwaters. I adjusted the bump and rebound to a more intermediate level and prepared to adjust further as the stages required.
Friday:
Parc Expose: I spent the majority of my time here going over every possible item on the car as my pre-race prep was woefully lacking. Successfully passed tech and everything appeared fine.
Stage 1: On the way to this stage a torrential downpour started. What can only be described as a hurricane (in Minnesota?) greeted us at the beginning of the stage. A mile into the stage it is immediately apparent there something wrong with the engine. At 4000 RPM the motor stumbles and cannot accelerate. All the gauges look good including boost but there is no power past 4K. I assume water has infiltrated the ignition system and ride it out until the end of the stage.
Stage 2: I look under the hood and can find no evidence of arcing or an ignition issue. As much as it is raining, the aluminum skid-plate beneath the motor appears to keep the engine bay quite dry. I have only a couple minutes before the start of the stage and continue with the same issue. I am starting to become concerned...what if I am damaging my new engine? Can I afford to take a chance? We are way off the pace but finish the stage.
Service: My friend Chade was my Crew Chief for this rally and we all thoroughly went over the car in an attempt to find the problem. Plugs, wires, timing, etc...everything we could check in 30 minutes was gone through to no avail. We found nothing wrong.
Stage 3: The rain is so intense the roads are starting to wash out. AWD becomes almost a necessity. A few cars are off the road simply stuck in the mud. Even if we were at full power we could barely utilize it due to the road conditions and abysmal visibility. The car appears to be performing worse and I decide I can no longer risk more damage to the engine and decide to limp back to headquarters and DNF today's rally
Friday night: Soaked and downtrodden, Bob and I brainstorm what else we can check on the car. It is still raining too hard to diagnose the engine problem. We decide to look at it first thing in the morning. Similar to the last rally, we find all the competitors in our class DNF'ed due to the weather. If we had only finished we could have won our class! Hindsight is 20/20...
Saturday morning: My crew, myself, other DSM teams, anyone with an opinion...all come to offer their 2 cents on what is wrong with the new 532. I swap out everything I have spares for; wires, plugs, module, hoses, etc. We double check static and advanced timing along with all electrical connections pertaining to the motor.
Stage 1: The rain is gone and we start on a warm, cloudy day. The 4K RPM limiter is still an issue but I ignore it. I just want to finish and get as high as possible in the points to make up for my stupid decision last night.
Stage 2: Beautiful Minnesota day. Not much dust and I'm driving a 3,000 pound AWD pig with 100 horsepower. It could be worse...at least I am running.
Stage 3-Stage7: Nothing spectacular. We are both frustrated but we press on and squeeze everything we can out of the car. This is the first time I have ever been passed on a stage Very disappointing.
Saturday night: We finish 3rd in class and 16th overall. The paint has finally cured
...we can touch the car now. The engine is still running and the car is one piece. I guess it could always be worse. The main topic of conversation during the party after the rally was the incredible weather the night before...the locals have never seen anything like it.
My Divisional championship hopes have taken a big hit but incredibly we are still leading though our margin is getting smaller.
Sunday: We load the car on the trailer drive the 4 hour tow home. I go through all the components of the motor I wasn't able to check during the event. I eventually find the offending part to be the ECU. I swap in a spare ECU from one of my 'donor' DSMs and the 4k 'rev limiter' is gone. My best guess is that I burned out the ECU during welding and plasma cutting while installing the roll cage. Apparently disconnecting the battery is not enough...a lesson I will never forget. Whenever welding on a car, the ECU comes out completely. Another lesson learned...Whether it be a rally or road race, a spare ECU always comes with me.
Hopefully the new 532 will be ready for the next rally a month away, Magnum Opus in the UP of Michigan.
I would strip some for parts, combine others to sell as a complete car and finally keep the black shell as my basis for the new rally car.
Also during this time I was rebuilding the motor from the blue Talon as a (hopefully never needed) spare. I decided to mate the fresh motor to the old rally transmission. I cut the roll cage in 4 pieces and reinstalled it into the black shell. The DMS suspension, rally computer, intercom, seats, belts, anything salvageable went into the new car. Stripped down to its shell, the old red rally car got winched on to the trailer and left for the crusher.
With only 2 weeks before the Ojibwe Forest Rally, the car was complete...except for paint...Black shell, green hood and doors. My sometimes-crew chief Chade had a free gallon of maroon paint from his employer (customer exclaimed it was the right color, wrong system).
Never painting a car before, I spent a couple days prepping and sanding the body in preparation for giving it 2 coats of this maroon paint. After curing, I realized something was wrong, the paint was textured! After examination by a painter buddy, we found my new HVLP paint gun was defective. It was now crunch-time...3 days before the rally. I completely re-sanded the car and re-shot the night before the event. I was hoping to spend more time breaking in the engine but my '2 week' paint job prevented that from
happening.
So, Thursday night I broke the motor in while driving the four hours to Bemidji, MN while the fresh paint was curing. My crew followed behind with the service vehicle and trailer. We made it to our motel with no apparent issues and hit the sack. The paint job was still nothing to be proud of but at least it was all one color!
After some research I realized the DMS damper settings were much too hard for the wet gravel I experienced at Headwaters. I adjusted the bump and rebound to a more intermediate level and prepared to adjust further as the stages required.
Friday:
Parc Expose: I spent the majority of my time here going over every possible item on the car as my pre-race prep was woefully lacking. Successfully passed tech and everything appeared fine.
Stage 1: On the way to this stage a torrential downpour started. What can only be described as a hurricane (in Minnesota?) greeted us at the beginning of the stage. A mile into the stage it is immediately apparent there something wrong with the engine. At 4000 RPM the motor stumbles and cannot accelerate. All the gauges look good including boost but there is no power past 4K. I assume water has infiltrated the ignition system and ride it out until the end of the stage.
Stage 2: I look under the hood and can find no evidence of arcing or an ignition issue. As much as it is raining, the aluminum skid-plate beneath the motor appears to keep the engine bay quite dry. I have only a couple minutes before the start of the stage and continue with the same issue. I am starting to become concerned...what if I am damaging my new engine? Can I afford to take a chance? We are way off the pace but finish the stage.
Service: My friend Chade was my Crew Chief for this rally and we all thoroughly went over the car in an attempt to find the problem. Plugs, wires, timing, etc...everything we could check in 30 minutes was gone through to no avail. We found nothing wrong.
Stage 3: The rain is so intense the roads are starting to wash out. AWD becomes almost a necessity. A few cars are off the road simply stuck in the mud. Even if we were at full power we could barely utilize it due to the road conditions and abysmal visibility. The car appears to be performing worse and I decide I can no longer risk more damage to the engine and decide to limp back to headquarters and DNF today's rally
Friday night: Soaked and downtrodden, Bob and I brainstorm what else we can check on the car. It is still raining too hard to diagnose the engine problem. We decide to look at it first thing in the morning. Similar to the last rally, we find all the competitors in our class DNF'ed due to the weather. If we had only finished we could have won our class! Hindsight is 20/20...
Saturday morning: My crew, myself, other DSM teams, anyone with an opinion...all come to offer their 2 cents on what is wrong with the new 532. I swap out everything I have spares for; wires, plugs, module, hoses, etc. We double check static and advanced timing along with all electrical connections pertaining to the motor.
Stage 1: The rain is gone and we start on a warm, cloudy day. The 4K RPM limiter is still an issue but I ignore it. I just want to finish and get as high as possible in the points to make up for my stupid decision last night.
Stage 2: Beautiful Minnesota day. Not much dust and I'm driving a 3,000 pound AWD pig with 100 horsepower. It could be worse...at least I am running.
Stage 3-Stage7: Nothing spectacular. We are both frustrated but we press on and squeeze everything we can out of the car. This is the first time I have ever been passed on a stage
Very disappointing.Saturday night: We finish 3rd in class and 16th overall. The paint has finally cured
...we can touch the car now. The engine is still running and the car is one piece. I guess it could always be worse. The main topic of conversation during the party after the rally was the incredible weather the night before...the locals have never seen anything like it.My Divisional championship hopes have taken a big hit but incredibly we are still leading though our margin is getting smaller.
Sunday: We load the car on the trailer drive the 4 hour tow home. I go through all the components of the motor I wasn't able to check during the event. I eventually find the offending part to be the ECU. I swap in a spare ECU from one of my 'donor' DSMs and the 4k 'rev limiter' is gone. My best guess is that I burned out the ECU during welding and plasma cutting while installing the roll cage. Apparently disconnecting the battery is not enough...a lesson I will never forget. Whenever welding on a car, the ECU comes out completely. Another lesson learned...Whether it be a rally or road race, a spare ECU always comes with me.
Hopefully the new 532 will be ready for the next rally a month away, Magnum Opus in the UP of Michigan.
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Aw what a shame to crush the wrecked 532. There was no way to salvage it whatsoever?
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Posted 03-18-2008 at 09:50 PM by crimsondragon
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Not really...once it was stripped, the car was useless due to too much body damage. I was also running out of room for all these cars and spares. It was a shame, in hindsight that was a really good car.
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Posted 03-19-2008 at 07:29 AM by Dave532
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Recent Blog Entries by Dave532
- Sno Drift Pro Rally 2006 (05-14-2008)
- Lake Superior Pro Rally 2005 (05-13-2008)
- Shooting Star ClubRally 2005 (05-10-2008)
- Lake Superior Pro Rally 2003 (05-04-2008)
- Ojibwe Forests Pro Rally 2003 (04-28-2008)
