1979 242 GT Rally Project

Hello there!

I posted something like this on specialstage.com as well as some other forums...some of you know me, Tha VZA on various other forums...Viktor is the name, Volvo is the game!

Background:

I am just now finishing up my 1984 760ti 'street project car'...lots of mods there, so I have a bit of experience with Volvo's, I have had 4 in my lifetime (I'm 22), a 1990 740 GL(RIP), a 1991 245 (sold), the current 1984 760 (my baby) and my new addition as of July, the 1979 242 GT.

I have loved watching rally ever since I was little, but never really got into it per say until last year when I met some people who showed me that there is local rally around me and that it's easy to get involved with winter autoX'ing and TSD'ing...cue Shawn Bishop!!

I have gravel/dirt/mud driving experience from living in AB and working the oil patch, as well just taking my cars out on some gravel roads and having some fun. I love driving this terrain, more so than racing at a track, which I still find fun as well.

After reading a lot about 'how to get started' I came to the conclusion that, yes, maybe I should buy a pre built car...but I just can't do it...unless it's a Volvo...I love them too much and I think for me it's better to stick with what I know, plus where I live (Calgary, AB) there is tons of local support regarding Volvo modding (Avalanche Performance Technologies, Ian G, Athal C...etc).

The Plan:

This year's plan is to clear some debt and when I can, enter as many TSD's and winter autoX's (I did the Dec. 18 winter autoX, the Grey 245, last winter once, but it just couldn't take my abuse...plus it was auto) as I can.



Right now I have modded my GT a little bit, for street driving right now, added a 25mm front sway bar, did some bracing work, removed AC/re did PS pump, adding a K cam here in the next week or two...more duration, bigger lift...but that's it for now, just to run some TSD's and AutoX's like so. I think to start out I will purchase some cheapy gravel tires and get some skinny hakka 4's and that should be good for doing only TSD's and autoX'ing for the next 2 1/2 years.

I hope to be rallying in Grp. "D" (CARS/Rallywest vintage class) starting 2009 with the car fully prep'd as far as, suspension (Kaplenke Racing, a Volvo specific tuning company), safety, brakes, and a fully re-done body (the body is pretty clean but I am referring to some mild surface rust, paint, changing out the window glass, seam welded, basic stuff, etc) This car will however still be running the B21F, k-jet, stock motor with a 3.92 rear end...yay 100hp!

While preparing the car/rallying in 2008/9, I also hope to build a B23E motor on the side then drop into the car and try my hand at Grp. 2.

I know this may cost more than buying a pre built car but factors such as I love Volvo's too much, RWD is the best ever (IMO) and the only thing I have ever driven, I like working on cars, and why do what everyone else is doing...you know?

anyway, I'll be updating this thread with pictures/updates/maybe a video or two of the car (hopefully this is cool with the mods ) if anyone has any questions/comments/idea's to share/parts for sale/anything at all feel free!!!

here is the GT as it sits now...



ciao

Time for an UPDATE!

I'll try to make this chronological as best I can remember...but first time for a guessing game...the answer is below...what do ya'll think this is? (don't cheat and read the url...bad bad )



The Volvo in question first night it was home, on the summer tires that I had on my 760



A lower chassis brace I made, pretty much same design as iPD's



The driving lights I added, relay'd to the brights to be legal for TSD'ing



The first CSCC winter autoX event (the wagon is my buddy Raz)



While at the junkyard one day i found an early 80's US wagon with the skinny light bumper's which we didn't get in Canada, here's the front one swapped on



(the rear bumper will have to wait until I get the proper bumper shocks as the ones on the wagon were welded to a trailer hitch, which in turn was welded to the frame)

Next I thought about stripping the trunk for a spare tire mount/get rid of the sub etc.

here's what i found under the carpet...



eck...not good...but after much wire brushing...



looks a little better...

the triangle handle part is skinny enough so that I can slide the spare wheel over top of it, this will cut time when i need to change a tire because all I will have to do is loosen the nut a few threads then slide the plate out, then lift out the wheel

next comes the toolbox mount, using this for a towrope, first aid kit, and a small tool kit etc.



while reading the CARS rule book i noticed the bit about the tow hook spec's, so i made some...here's the front mounted to the stock tow hook location, the OEM Volvo tow hook does not work with the front GT spoiler i have, so that's why i had to make one, plus I think mine is better anyway!



and here is the rear, again using the stock mounting location, in addition to this it has a bracket around the bumper shock bolt



I havn't used the rear one yet, but I have rotted on the front one pretty hard spinning another Volvo 180 degrees around then towing it up hill a couple blocks, all in reverse

phew...still here?

next was to fix the problem of only having one tire traction, a big problem I found while at the winter autoX...Lincoln provided the locker



needless to say I LOVE having this mod...w00t!

however the little crap mudflaps I had on the rear got ripped off quite fast...they were only paper thin and held in with self tapping screws on the fender, I decided I needed to make some stronger mudflaps, I went to a local parts store and bought a big truck mudflap...step's/results below



the only mounting place to the car is at the "gas tank protection traingles", the other metal is just to stiffen the mudflaps up a little bit. If you wanna know what strong steel is try drilling thru a Volvo "gas tank protection triangle"...took me 25mins each side for the one little hole...

after driving for about a week I had realized I made the mudflaps a little to long and they would drag on corners etc, so I trimmed them a bit, this is them from the back as they are now



Regarding rally'ing in the future I went out looking for wheels, 14" for my winter's, and 15" for the mud/gravel's...from friends and the junkyard I found 5 more OEM 14" GT wheels (like the ones on the car right now) and 6 OEM 15" Sirius wheels...the sandblaster who does work for our company blasted and painted all 11, for really cheap too! here's what they look like

14" GT wheels ~13-14.5 lbs...soon to be wrapped in Hakka 2's (coming in the mail as we speak)



the 15" Sirius wheels ~15 lbs (not my pic, but this is what they look like)



so that's all I have for now...havn't taken pics of my exhaust but it's a cherry bomb turbo muffler DP back with side exit stylez, the airbox has been gutted and a drop in K&N filter is in there now, the tranny has also been short shifted, and a momo wheel installed

hopefully within the next month I will have the interior partially stripped, an adjustable/removeable co-driver footrest done up, another rear tow hook installed, and a metal sump guard fab'd.














oh and i know it's a bit late, but here's the GT on christmas day...




questions/comments always welcome, good or bad

thanks!

ciao

Looks good!
You gotta get some nice stickers for the wheels like "Sparcomotive" "OhZee" Volvo "Motorsprout"
And listen now, there is is no reason to do GpD, there's overlap with Gp2 and Gp5.

And give some serious thought about your suspension, it might be wise to get things that are made specifically for gravel rally, it will likeley work better and last lots longer.
You've seen what Kevin Hawkinson got for his right????

Stay in touch about motor mods, again gravel rally specific things will be your all round best bet.
Pay debts later!!!

John V said:

Volvo "Motorsprout"

Click to expand...

John V said:

Stay in touch about motor mods, again gravel rally specific things will be your all round best bet.
Pay debts later!!!

Click to expand...

Will do...the keep in touch bit that is...i should really pay debts first

ciao

When you're done, can I race it for you?

those 10 spokers look amazingly good in white

Tamnakz said:

When you're done, can I race it for you?

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well if my current co-driver doesn't stay with me (he wants to build a rally car as well) then i might let you sit there? yeah? sound good?!

impulse922 said:

those 10 spokers look amazingly good in white

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yeah they do eh...



...this guy showed me

and Dauntless wanted his car in this thread too for some reason, cause he has white GT wheels as well...i don't know...here is his car...



ciao

Awesome!

You're gonna cage it and seam weld, right? Does Group 5 need a cage? (ignorant of Canadian rally regs am I)

tjanson said:

Awesome!

You're gonna cage it and seam weld, right? Does Group 5 need a cage? (ignorant of Canadian rally regs am I)

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Oh yeah, seam weld, strip it, new paint, bodywork to fix some surface rust, all that yet to come...later once the car is no longer my winter DD i'll cage it

I'll be running Grp 2 (no force induction allowed), I want to build a nice B23E, something NA, reliable

any class of stage rally in Canada needs a caged car...open thru down to production classes

the TSD's (navigational rally) however do not need a cage, I will be running in those for a little while yet!

ciao

UPDATE!

some pictures from another winter auto-x i was at...












Trail of the GNU TSD Rally!

well the shiny side stayed up...ALL RALLY!!!

here's some pictures and stories...

Meeting at the Best Western in Rocky Mountain House for the driver's meeting/registration/technical inspection






notice something new...oh yeah...the mean azz tyres!!!




i am so in love with these tyres, they are most amazing thing ever...these are my first set of brand new tyres, ever, they rock! can't say enough or find the right words to describe them, they give you confidence

first stage went okay with the usual hiccups of rookie's...calculations messed up a little bit, learning the timing etc...but all in all it went okay














then...Raz hit the ditch...(although a lot of people without studded winter tyres were saying how hard it was to drive in these conditions)



i tried to pull him out, but to no avail...while i was trying this, a subaru ditched on the other side of the road due to some overplow on the road....so i tried pulling him out...



...and was succesful...



by this time like 3-4 other car's behind us had come upon this utter mess of car's everywhere...after we got going the rest followed, and everyone got back on track for stage 2













this is where it gets fun...coming around a corner at about 80 km/h i got greedy and "put the hammer down" before fully exiting the corner, here we go sidewayz, i let off the throttle...BANG the tires gripped and threw the car around the other way...

picture turning right, sliding a lil sidewayz, then whipping around backwards/sliding sidewayz again...all at 70-80km/h still... :shock:

needless to say i hit the ditch...really hard






















with the warning triangle set up and my navigator holding the tow strap ready to get towed out, i began to dig out the car with my nifty folding shovel







this is when i realized i wasn't getting out until someone towed me out, we had slid thru the snow-pack-bank and hit the frozen-mud-bank (which was also covered in snow) on the side of the road, lifting my rear tires off the ground, so i had no way of getting the car moving

sweep came not too long after though, i had the whole car dug out and ready to go, it was an easy extraction...i was alright with what had happened although my navigator seemed a little shaken up, he told me he thought we were going to roll once we whipped around

the rest of the stages went off without a hitch, no drama. went half off the road once in some deep snow which slowed us down but we didn't get stuck or anything really, just got back onto the road and slowly clibmed up a section of hill, then got back up to speed...the stages were lots of fun, lots of fast driving thru WICKED one lane roads thru the forest...such a sweet experience



^^^me and Jason (navigator) during a moment of rest waiting to start the next stage

here we are moving onto the second leg of the day...the night stages, which were so much fun and we actually ran faster during the night, i guess it was because i couldn't see all the danger's







so some day stages and some night stages, all really fun, learned a lot about my car and what it can do with some decent tyres on it, how much less i need to throttle thru corners and how well it handles on rough rough terrain, like 1-2 feet of air sometimes, just abused the thing! With a decent suspension/tyres/motor i really think this car could be a force to be reckoned with

SO...in closing, the goals of the rally for me was to A. Have Fun B. Finish the Rally and C. learn about rally'ing and improve my driving skills

all three of those goals got accomplished and that make's me happy...well worth the expense of tyres/time put into the car/entrance fee...WELL WORTH IT!

anyway...some more pictures

back in Rocky at the Rally conclusion...





^^^ ice cream hell yeah! i ate two of them

and back at home in Calgary!

They see me rollin
They hatin
Patrolling they tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty

Click to expand...

talk to ya'll later!

ciao

Looks like a lot of fun man! Keep up the good work!!

Looks like tons of fun, nice piccies.
How many miles total?
What was the entry fee?

And man you gotta watch the whip back thing. Its the cause of more serious bangs into the bank that nearly any other thing, and its worse when you have nasty real rally tires.
And somewhat soft rear suspension makes it worse, but that same soft makes for good grip so you gotta watch it.
Long time ago when we'd be out in a gang of 4-8 guys being naughty, they were all rwd except my Saab, and when I would trade off, when it got serious sideways I would , according to my friends, being swearing in Finnish and Swedish and the only thing they understood is me telling myself "Satans poiki, don't lift!!!!!"

The back page of the Swedish magazine "Rally" used to have an action phot every month often exciting stuff and hair-raising rolls etc and they called it "Retur Sladden"
"The Return Slide" such a common cause of drama it is.

John V said:

Looks like tons of fun, nice piccies.
How many miles total?
What was the entry fee?

And man you gotta watch the whip back thing. Its the cause of more serious bangs into the bank that nearly any other thing, and its worse when you have nasty real rally tires.

Click to expand...

miles????

transit 1 = 16.50 km
stage 1 = 25.56 km

transit 2 = 31.49 km
stage 2 = 33.63 km

transit 3 = 11.60 km
stage 3 = 30.02 km

transit 4 = 1.55 km
stage 4 = 21.44 km

transit 5 = 40.76 km

Leg 1 (Daylight) = 212.55 km's total...transit km's = 101.90...stage km's = 110.65

transit 6 = 9.07 km
stage 5 = 22.41 km

transit 7 = 17.68 km
stage 6 = 23.04 km

transit 8 = 1.78 km
stage 7 = 26.95 km

transit 9 = 62.35 km

Leg 2 (Night) = 163.28 km's total...transit km's = 90.88...stage km's = 72.40

get on with your "miles" shenanigans...

entrance fee was $75 CAD

and yeah no sh1t i gotta watch the whip back thing!!! kinda glad i had that commando bumper still on the rear...we hit that frozen mud pack pretty hard

MORE PICS!







ciao

man... reading this jsut makes me that much more anxious to get my car ready fro rallycross out here...

Lovely stuff man! Looks like a brick should- well used!

You should get an in car camera mount and take some video.

damn that looks like a blast, i wish they had that kinda thing down here

stray said:

You should get an in car camera mount and take some video.

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just gotta get a tape style video camera, the JVC digi hard drive i have doesnt like the bumps too much

ciao

UPDATE!!!

So work has has been taking up too much time and I havvn't been able to enter as many TSD Rally's as I would have liked to this year...but so is life! I still havn't lost the rally bug though!

First, mods done to the car...

It was suggested by a few people to stiffen up the rear tow hook with a brace piece, I did use the rear tow hook at The Trail of the GNU TSD in the winter, pulled out a ditched Subaru, it held up fine and dandy, but making something a little stronger won't hurt it...





another suggestion was to make some sort of attachment points for a strap to go over the spare tire as what I had may break...well it survived the first rally and then a few weeks later it snapped off, so I re welded the post (stronger now) and made some points for a strap to attach...





some people had said that the scissor jack isn't the best thing to use because of how unstable they are...so i modded the jack, 19mm bolt welded onto the end there to raise it, larger base also attached...






so with a little more work done and a gravel/mud TSD coming up it was time to shop!!






grrrr.....evil tread! haha

SO...now that those pretty Sirius wheels (which were blasted and painted ) have some rubber on them...let's go get lost in the forest shall we?

Thanks to the CSCC for hosting "The Loop Rally", again based out of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta!



OH I FORGOT TO SAY! I got bored and was tired of the GT's mess of grey primer, rust, and whatever non stock colour shade of silver it is now...spray paint FTW!!





















so what ya'll think? went with the GT colour scheme, sorta, and for 45mins of "work" I am generally okay with it


yay tires!



and some more decals because vinyl does add wheel tq's...new hood emblem...



and courtesy of Shawn Bishop...



...RIP


So how did the rally go? well there was much navigational error, and by much I mean too much...but we're learning still! Also having a wet distributor cap after driving through a few small lakes didn't help our cause, stalled Volvo in the middle of the forest is a sad site, but we dried it off and it fired right up, I mean it is NA K-Jet!! haha

Goals for me this rally were to

1. improve/get more confident/comfortable with left foot braking - accomplished (don't hit the brake like a cable clutch anymore, haha, instant lock up! got better doing this)

2. test the car on some rougher terrain and not break anything - accomplished (except a huge rock that hit the windshield (on the highway) travelling up to the rally, showering me with glass while going 110km/h, that wasn't too fun)

3. finish the rally and not place last - accomplished (3rd overall, 1st in Novice Division...and no we WEREN'T the ONLY Novice entry)

4. HAVE FUN! - you know I did!!!


oh and I mentioned the lakes right?...haha....yeah.......
















I got some holes to patch up I think!!! hah





got some cleaning to do!!!


and just because...here I am with OOLA (oo-luh)...






SO yeah...good times as always, learned some things, got a little better at driving and picking lines that won't shock the spine and jerk the car around as much, slow and steady this rally thing is coming...

questions/comments good or bad always welcome!!!

ciao

Looking awesome! I'm not so sure about the "GT inspired" paintjob, but whatever blows your hair back!

I'm surprised you haven't stripped the interior out yet. Weight savings ftw.

damn dude!
keep up the fantastic work
I really like the new paint scheme you did, and the rims w. tires.
looks great!

Lookin great man! Those wheels/tires are hawt, makes me want to get 2 more of those wheels and paint them white