To safari or not to safari...

[fallingat120mph]

Originally Posted by JKarow08

Thanks...just watched that...now I have something else at the top of my bucket list

After I get my business off the ground down here in Nica I plan on building another rally car to compete in the WRC affiliated events down here in Costa Rica. I'd love to build a 914, but there isn't much to choose from down here, will likely be another Subaru or maybe a vintage Toyota, have always wanted to build an early 80s Starlet.

Good videos from that YouTube channel. They have some that cover racing in Norway or Sweden that are really good too...



Erik

[3literpwr]

I like mine. It's a beast on gravel.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by 3literpwr

I like mine. It's a beast on gravel.

That's a beauty! What are you running for tires and suspension? I ordered my "1000 Lakes Rally" rear shocks yesterday, ordering the fronts from FVD tomorrow, excited to see how the setup compares to the Feal stage rally coilovers I had on my Subaru.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by fallingat120mph

Good videos from that YouTube channel. They have some that cover racing in Norway or Sweden that are really good too...



Erik

I stumbled across this video yesterday...really well done and a cool story I was unaware of.

https://youtu.be/fqmc7dtzwmc?si=lqeCIh_Lm2Fne1O-

[Balisong]

This was in the parking lot at Eurofest in Greenville, SC. Cooler than anything in the actual show. I asked them to try to find the owner to tell him his lights were on.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by Balisong

This was in the parking lot at Eurofest in Greenville, SC. Cooler than anything in the actual show. I asked them to try to find the owner to tell him his lights were on.

That looks like a hell of a lot of fun too! I love those custom bumper bar/skid plate combos!

In case anyone hasn't seen it, here's the build thread I started for the next member of the rally 911 family...

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1176190-build-thread-champagne-dirt.html#post12446093

[mark4ton]

I'll be damned, a Werks Gruppe build!

Originally Posted by Balisong

This was in the parking lot at Eurofest in Greenville, SC. Cooler than anything in the actual show. I asked them to try to find the owner to tell him his lights were on.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by mark4ton

I'll be damned, a Werks Gruppe build!

I wasn't familiar with Werks Gruppe until you pointed that, just did some digging, looks like their first build just recently sold on BAT...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-porsche-911sc-176/

[Henry Schmidt]

My version of a rally car. 69T I built for myself

1969 911 T Brought to you by Supertec

The car is a numbers matching example of a very nice Porsche street rod.
Clean current California title.131,000 miles before restoration
The paint is high quality bare metal color change. (Don Emory)
The paint is PPG Acrylic Urethane.
The color is called Cool Vanilla. It is very similar to Porsches Light Ivory.
The bumpers are 73. All of the chrome has been blacked out and most rubber is new.
The chassis is rust free with signs of professional rust repair. The entire chassis is coated with Worth SKS undercoat
The engine is a 2.45 liter twin plug with DC Mod “S” cam and 9.5:1 compression.
The entire engine was balance to 1gram.
The case has CaseSavers, oil by-pass mod, 3.2 Carrera pump, line bore and oil squirters.
The 2.4 (70.4 mm) crank was magged, polished and cross drilled.
The pistons are JE 9.5:1 forged racing pistons in new 86mm Biral barrels.
The rods were rebuilt new bolts & 12 point flanged nuts.
The heads are 2.7 liter with 36mm intake ports and machined for twin plugs.
Phosphorus /bronze valve guides and new oversized valves (47, 41) were installed.
The valve springs are Supertec 240. The head studs are of course Supertec.
The cams are 4 journal billets, DC Mod “S” for great mid range to high RPM performance. 10,000 RPM tack with an 8000 RPM red line.
Carrera chain tensioners, chains, ramps with Supertec tensioner arms were installed
Rockers are rebuilt with Teflon lined bushing and Rockwell tested to guarantee cam compatibility. Shafts were polished.
The carburetors are 40mm Webers completely remanufactured. PMO manifolds.
A Supertec Power Pulley was installed with new belt and remanufactured alternator.
The distributor is a Rennwerks Gen II triggering an MSD 6AL CD box.
The exhaust is SSI with M&K sport muffler. It sounds great. Rebuilt 3.0 starter
Numbers matching 5 speed transmission was completely rebuilt.
The rotors are updated to vented and drilled. The calipers were rebuilt and modified to suit the vented rotors. New custom pads were installed. Braided stainless lines.
The wheels are Fuchs 16x7 (205 x 55) rear and 15x7 (195x55) front that were blasted and painted then clear powder coat by Al Reed.
The wheel bearing and seals were replaced.
The shocks both front and rear were replaced with Kyoba (KYB) gas.
Custom front strut brace.
We replaced the carpets and trunk liner and installed Corbeau Vintage seats.
Prototype Hargett pedals.
Seat belts are updated to 72-73 Porsche retractable shoulder harnesses.
The door panels are Carrera 2 RS without pockets.
Head lights are H4, the 4 big Oscars are 100w and 55w.
Front and rear turn signal lenses are European amber.
New engines mounts
Powder coated sheet metal.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

My version of a rally car. 69T I built for myself

1969 911 T Brought to you by Supertec

The car is a numbers matching example of a very nice Porsche street rod.
Clean current California title.131,000 miles before restoration
The paint is high quality bare metal color change. (Don Emory)
The paint is PPG Acrylic Urethane.
The color is called Cool Vanilla. It is very similar to Porsches Light Ivory.
The bumpers are 73. All of the chrome has been blacked out and most rubber is new.
The chassis is rust free with signs of professional rust repair. The entire chassis is coated with Worth SKS undercoat
The engine is a 2.45 liter twin plug with DC Mod “S” cam and 9.5:1 compression.
The entire engine was balance to 1gram.
The case has CaseSavers, oil by-pass mod, 3.2 Carrera pump, line bore and oil squirters.
The 2.4 (70.4 mm) crank was magged, polished and cross drilled.
The pistons are JE 9.5:1 forged racing pistons in new 86mm Biral barrels.
The rods were rebuilt new bolts & 12 point flanged nuts.
The heads are 2.7 liter with 36mm intake ports and machined for twin plugs.
Phosphorus /bronze valve guides and new oversized valves (47, 41) were installed.
The valve springs are Supertec 240. The head studs are of course Supertec.
The cams are 4 journal billets, DC Mod “S” for great mid range to high RPM performance. 10,000 RPM tack with an 8000 RPM red line.
Carrera chain tensioners, chains, ramps with Supertec tensioner arms were installed
Rockers are rebuilt with Teflon lined bushing and Rockwell tested to guarantee cam compatibility. Shafts were polished.
The carburetors are 40mm Webers completely remanufactured. PMO manifolds.
A Supertec Power Pulley was installed with new belt and remanufactured alternator.
The distributor is a Rennwerks Gen II triggering an MSD 6AL CD box.
The exhaust is SSI with M&K sport muffler. It sounds great. Rebuilt 3.0 starter
Numbers matching 5 speed transmission was completely rebuilt.
The rotors are updated to vented and drilled. The calipers were rebuilt and modified to suit the vented rotors. New custom pads were installed. Braided stainless lines.
The wheels are Fuchs 16x7 (205 x 55) rear and 15x7 (195x55) front that were blasted and painted then clear powder coat by Al Reed.
The wheel bearing and seals were replaced.
The shocks both front and rear were replaced with Kyoba (KYB) gas.
Custom front strut brace.
We replaced the carpets and trunk liner and installed Corbeau Vintage seats.
Prototype Hargett pedals.
Seat belts are updated to 72-73 Porsche retractable shoulder harnesses.
The door panels are Carrera 2 RS without pockets.
Head lights are H4, the 4 big Oscars are 100w and 55w.
Front and rear turn signal lenses are European amber.
New engines mounts
Powder coated sheet metal.

Wow...that's a beauty Henry, very nice! You ever get her dirty? I think you'll appreciate my build, definitely a classy take on a rally car like you built. I really appreciate your help providing all of the misc pieces of my motor build and providing all of the guidance on pistons, cylinders, cams, etc!

[3literpwr]

Originally Posted by JKarow08

That's a beauty! What are you running for tires and suspension? I ordered my "1000 Lakes Rally" rear shocks yesterday, ordering the fronts from FVD tomorrow, excited to see how the setup compares to the Feal stage rally coilovers I had on my Subaru.

I am running EX TC triples, tuthill pedal box, calipers and 18mm front ball joint. This is a log booked proper stage rally car. Finally got it back to Michigan to compete again.

LP

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by 3literpwr

I am running EX TC triples, tuthill pedal box, calipers and 18mm front ball joint. This is a log booked proper stage rally car. Finally got it back to Michigan to compete again.

LP

I love your car! I soiled your thread about it with a bunch of pictures of my old dirty Subaru lol.

I've heard great things about exe tc stage coilovers, definitely not cheap though! I was thoroughly impressed with my Feal 460 coilovers, and I was lucky enough to find a set that had been installed on a failed rally car build, had only been rolled in and out of the garage, and I scored them for about a 1/4 of MSRP at the time. Something like those would definitely be overkill on my build though...the 1000 Lakes valved Bilsteins I'm running should be plenty for spirited gravel road ripping in my longhood.

My old Subaru setup...

[3literpwr]

The Feal coilovers are made by a company called HOTBITS in Malaysia. I was the US rebuild facility for a number of years, (03-2012) also helped them with dyno tuning and more. Odi from feal used to get seals from me years ago before feal was selling much. I have those on my g50 Carrera and were on my VR4 rally car too. Lasted a lot of stages miles without failure. They have decent adjustment ranges and are good for the money. Rear of Subie is prone to bending rods because of the length. If you see them weeping, you’ll know why.

If I did exetc again, I’d do singles or just run 1000 lake…maybe reiger. I’m on 19/27 bars with no sways. 300hp 3.0 with SCRS gearing. It’s a beast. Scary in the woods.

[ChuckleBeast]

Still some cosmetic work to do but my favorite to drive

[ADDvanced]

Imho safari builds are already played out, and stupid for most parts of the country.

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by 3literpwr

The Feal coilovers are made by a company called HOTBITS in Malaysia. I was the US rebuild facility for a number of years, (03-2012) also helped them with dyno tuning and more. Odi from feal used to get seals from me years ago before feal was selling much. I have those on my g50 Carrera and were on my VR4 rally car too. Lasted a lot of stages miles without failure. They have decent adjustment ranges and are good for the money. Rear of Subie is prone to bending rods because of the length. If you see them weeping, you’ll know why.

If I did exetc again, I’d do singles or just run 1000 lake…maybe reiger. I’m on 19/27 bars with no sways. 300hp 3.0 with SCRS gearing. It’s a beast. Scary in the woods.

I didn't know Feal and Hotbits were built in the same factory, knew they were both similar level Asian made high quality budget rally coilovers though. I knew a guy with Hotbits on his evo that loved them. Odi and their customer service was why I went with Feal, he is very knowledgeable and helpful and their rebuild costs were far cheaper than their competitors. I daily drove on my Feals for about 5 years on top of thrashing them around rallyx courses and backwoods bombing on the weekends, and I never had any problems. Plus rally spring and valving rates are much better for street/backroads driving than stiffer tarmac oriented setups...it ate anything I threw at it and didn't beat me up as a daily.

I'd love some wheel time behind your rally 911, I'm guessing it is nirvana on the stage. I swapped a 3.0 h6 into my Subie that made about 300hp, and I had an 4.44 sti-RA transmission with dccd, so I know first hand the perfection that is 6 cyl torque tied to short gears in a light car on the dirt. And your 911 is a few hundred pounds less than my RS...has to be a rocket ship, scary is probably a big understatement to the uninitiated

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by ChuckleBeast

Still some cosmetic work to do but my favorite to drive

That is gnarly! What size tires are those!? That's the reason I'm doing a rally inspired build on mine...everyone that owns or has driven a safari style 911 says they are their favorite car to drive. What better reason than that?

[JKarow08]

Originally Posted by ADDvanced

Imho safari builds are already played out, and stupid for most parts of the country.

I'd say a safari style 911 is actually better for most parts of the country. While most 911s are relegated to the garage for half the year or more in snow country, safari 911 owners are doing snow donuts in parking lots with smiles from ear to ear. Anyplace a Subaru or AWD vehicle makes sense a safari 911 makes sense, and AWD/4x4 vehicles now make up 60% of annual sales. That's why I loved my Subaru...when most performance car owners were staring at their cars in the garage, I was drifting every corner on snow days. Just my 2 cents.

[TeeJayHoward]

In my town, if you're not driving a pickup, you're going to be replacing some plastic quite frequently. For some of us, the Safari builds aren't just an aesthetic choice, but a functional one.

I know I have personally ripped off a 964 bumper on a speed bump in a parking lot (yes, at single-digit speeds) and a 997 bumper on my mother-in-law's driveway. My old Impreza ran over it's front bumper a few weeks into ownership pulling out of my own driveway so I hacked it off halfway down. I've also scraped the heck out of the underside of a Chevy SS, an ND and an NC MX-5, and a WRX's bumpers just driving to work and back. There are some cars I would have loved to have purchased, but decided against strictly due to their terrible approach angles. I will never be able to buy a C8 'vette or a 992. Anything from Lotus or Ferrari will stay on a poster. From this point onwards, if it doesn't have Battlewagon/Safari/Rallycross stylings, I don't think I'll ever purchase another vehicle.

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by JKarow08

I'd say a safari style 911 is actually better for most parts of the country. While most 911s are relegated to the garage for half the year or more in snow country, safari 911 owners are doing snow donuts in parking lots with smiles from ear to ear. Anyplace a Subaru or AWD vehicle makes sense a safari 911 makes sense, and AWD/4x4 vehicles now make up 60% of annual sales. That's why I loved my Subaru...when most performance car owners were staring at their cars in the garage, I was drifting every corner on snow days. Just my 2 cents.

You're forgetting the vast majority of the country uses road salt, which means no, nobody is driving their aircooled safari build in a corrosive mess.

The vast majority of this country has like zero off road trails; ex: Wisconsin has NO public offroad trails, so unless you own property with private trails, you literally can't use your Safari build properly. Out west, sure, maybe, if you're near appropriate trails, but the vast majority of the country's population is in developed areas without offroad access, so road cars make more sense.