Dirty Rallysport

04/25/2024

Don't stare at it too long - you'll go cross-eyed!

Still quite a bit to tweak and optimize, but this is a good stopping point for now.

TODO:
- Inside CAN bus harness (to connect to ECU directly)
- Body Harness including all of the misc power connections for extra rally stuff (intercom, ham radio, interior lights)
- Engine harness
- Engine bay body harness
- Mating harness to connect to the secondary fuse-based power module for windows and things like that.

04/20/2024

Hello my old friend,
I've come to wrench with you again...

12/21/2023

What a good little end-of-the-year present coming to us from Japan! The folks at L'aunsport do some pretty incredible custom work!

12/09/2023

One thing we've learned over the years is how much our rally family matters to us. For those of you that know Jesse (and maybe his lovely bride, Sara!) you know how incredible they are to the world.

Jesse's wife Sara has stage 5 kidney disease, but has amazingly been given the opportunity for a transplant. Unfortunately, like everything in life nowadays, it's a question of money.

If you have a few bucks to spare, we'd be honored if you'd consider donating to Sara's transplant effort.

Thank you!!

Hello my name is Sara, I’m 33 years old mother of a 15 year old boy and I’m married to my best friend. We have 2 dogs that are the bestest boys if I do say so myself. For the most part I would say my life is as close to perfect as one could get, I’m just not financially where I need to handle ...

11/26/2023

Lots of new shiny bits are in order for the new car! It's a long road, but we're approaching a great point: rolling the car out for exterior paint!

09/23/2023

This will be such a huge emotional lift. Just keep an eye here in another hour or two...

09/17/2023

Post up if you know this iconic spot.

06/25/2023

We're at US rally mecca today!

04/19/2023

Giggidy.

Redundant fuel pumps! I still need to do up all of the wiring and whatnot, but this will allow for easy switching of A/B pumps. We're looking at using PDM-type logic controllers, so this, coupled with a CANbus fuel pressure sensor will allow for automatic switching of pumps if a pressure issue arises while on stage. Sexy!

04/17/2023

It's been a while, so a quick update:

Car is progressing well - probably not as fast as we'd hope, but it's the reality of things. We're nearing the point where the major interior prep will be done (pedal boxes, line routing, handbrake mounting, shifter relocation, etc). Once that's finished, sanding and painting!

The amount of engineering going into this car is easily 10x what we did previously. A lot of it is due to how we've reconfigured the interior to gain more room. Example: This car, the driver's seating position is nearly 5-6" further back. This sounds good for weight balance, but it means:
* Custom steering
* Custom pedal assembly
* Custom shifter relocation
* Custom handbrake

etc.

All good problems to have!

03/15/2023

We're really excited to see what Sam Albert is doing with his car. As a former competitor of ours, it's always great to see really creative solutions at the "pointy end" of the stick!

01/29/2023

We were finally able to open up the engine crate and take a peek inside. Lo and behold, the guys at IAG Performance took it upon themselves to do something really special for us.

Years ago, our former crew chief Gino Malinoski used to work at IAG building engines and running many of the milling machines. While there, he made some great friendships (and simultaneously, as was Gino tradition, left some serious destruction in his wake).

The guys at IAG still remember Gino and miss him too. It was really heartwarming to see this tag affixed to the long block that memorializes him and who he was first and foremost: a US Army combat infantryman.

01/19/2023

Still a massive amount of work, but progress is progress.

01/14/2023

A big shout out to our good friend Peter McDade who is braving the cold to go parts shopping at Broken Motorsports while they have a moving fire sale. Thanks, Peter!

11/29/2022

Let's get the show on the road. Cage happening in 2-3 weeks. Engine on order. Next up? Need to address the suspension, and get a whole new wiring harness to make it all happen.

11/27/2022

When it comes time for some bumper repairs, I guess I'll just need a pack of smokes and some superglue!

08/05/2022

Project car en-route. Tick tock.

07/26/2022

Time to get things going again from our long rally hiatus. It's been a rollercoaster - destroying a car, the passing of our crew chief Gino, a pandemic, any paying a bunch of money to someone to cage a new car without anything to show for it.

We're coordinating on shipping that failed cage project up to NH, cutting out the bad cage, and having a new one put in.

It's time to get the band back together. Let the wrenching commence!

05/13/2022

Good luck to everyone at the Hyperfest Rallysprint this weekend. Hopefully it's not a throwback to the 2016 when it rained so much that the course was a mess. We won only because we were the only one to finish!

01/14/2022

Sorry that it's been quiet on this front. We are formulating plans to resurrect a failed and stalled build.

That said...

Once the build is underway, we need to rethink the cockpit design. I feel drawn to these switches and I think it would make a wonderful improvement to the interior design.

To the moon!

All the fun of owning a spacecraft panel designed by YOU! Personalize your Apollo Command Module Quad Switch Panel for every occasion and setting of your choosing. Going to the Moon is complex but designing your custom Apollo Switch is not rocket science. It is simple and easy. Just enter the text y...

11/23/2021

Well, look at that! We're the headline banner on the NASA Rally site! https://drivenasa.com/road-racing/rally-sport/

11/15/2021

Dynamic toe and camber adjustment.

Grab some G54 merch here - https://www.en.garage54.ru/In this episode we take wheel and suspension mods, which there have been plenty of on this channel, to ...

04/29/2021

Next rally car paintjob!

Grab some G54 merch here - https://www.en.garage54.ru/In this episode we spare a Lada the torture for a change.Our instagram https://www.instagram.com/garage...

04/07/2021

One of our good friends went out to check on some things back in North Carolina and found the shell of our old car sitting out back where it's been for the last 2 years or so. It's pretty heartbreaking to see it this way - sitting outside and slowly rusting away - but hopefully it'll be reborn into a competitive car once again. Sadly, it won't be by our hands. We're still garage-less here in Massachusetts and it'll be a bit until that can be dealt with.

But until then, here's a view of what once was and what now is. The only question is what the future holds.

01/10/2021

Rally family is the best family. I received a random phone call late afternoon yesterday from a fellow competitor, Matt Rhoads asking if there were any restaurants open near me in Massachusetts where we moved in July.

Granted, I haven't spoken to Matt since Sandblast Rally in March of last year, but this is how rally is - you just pick up where you left off when the rally circus leaves town.

Long story short, we met up, had dinner and drinks and he's back on the road, heading south to Pennsylvania from his one-day cannonball trip to NH.

Until next time!