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Quinn's 1970 99 Rally Car Project

3K views 33 replies 11 participants last post by  saabsbreakdown 
#1 ·
Alot of you have heard that I am starting a rally car project this winter. Well, I finally picked out the car. Instead of going with the '75 I was going to that had a damaged windshield, I'm going with the already-stripped '70 thats in the yard.

It's a sweet car and I'll post pictures tomorrow. It already has a 900 rear axle and someone already took out the god awful triumph engine for me. :)

I will be converting to the newer style A-arms (will also box 'em) and it will probably get alot of newer-than-period parts.

My biggest problem is the heater, and the dash.

The heater is way different. I don't have enough parts to make it all work. I want to convert it to the newer 99 style, or even the 900 style. Of course, it doesnt have to be as nice as a normal car, just heat the cabin somehow.

Also the dash is nuts. I have some parts for this year dash but not many. It's totally frickin different. The newer 99 dash is so nice for cutting up to stick fuses and rally computers in!

It's so nice that I fear I'll be afraid to wreck it. Which sucks because I usually make fun of people like that!

Stay tuned..
 
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#5 · (Edited)







When we first got it, there was a C900 fuse box in the glovebox and it looked like that is where they were going to hook it up! Lots of weird wiring stuff. I think I'll build my own harness from scratch. I'm not sure about the heater still, I don't remember that metal being there on the drivers side. I do have a jigsaw though.. :)
 
#10 ·
damn you and your west coast rust free vehicles! i thought the 73 ems i just bought was in good shape, that thing is just rediculous. and ya know it would be easier to put a 8v H in it now, and when you want power, put in the 16vt, that way you wouldnt need to do the firewall mod later...you should just put the 16vt in right away if ya ask me though :lol:

Paul
 
#12 ·
Hell, put a 16v high compression in there right now (if you are looking to stick with normal asperation). The 16v na is not overly powerful and you can learn to rally on that motor pretty easily I'm sure.

Then you could do a 16vT swap very easy, or you could make a high compression LPT setup that would probably kick major ass and could probably be tunes to have a nice linear powerband.
 
#13 ·
Hell, put a 16v high compression in there right now (if you are looking to stick with normal asperation). The 16v na is not overly powerful and you can learn to rally on that motor pretty easily I'm sure.

Then you could do a 16vT swap very easy, or you could make a high compression LPT setup that would probably kick major ass and could probably be tunes to have a nice linear powerband.
That is a great idea.

Do it.
 
#14 ·
yeah no reason to do a B motor really, in rally one of the things you want is reliabilty, so you can acutally make it through a few stages without crap breaking. i wouldnt want to do a water pump on the side of the road personally, if you can avoid an engine with inherent problems, you usually should.

Paul
 
#15 ·
Yeah, that's the crappy thing about the B-motor, with the mechanical drive accessories. Wierd shit.

I think the H motor 8v is a great combination of easy to work on, with "old skool" charm. The 16v is certainly less acessible for certain quick repairs, but it's not much worse than the H 8v, and it certainly has more potential than the 8v.
 
#16 ·
yeah and if you do the firewall mod properly, like Luke Sorensen's 99 rally car, theres actually a good amount of room to work on the 16v, much more than i had expected actually. basically you just need to cut as much out of the firewall as you think you would need, then cut more.

Paul
 
#18 ·
Heres the reason: The motor I took out of the EMS has a new head gasket and only 130,000 on it.

Ok so here is the real question: If I have an electric water pump do I still need to modify the firewall?

I like the B motor. There is no chance of minor failiures, its all or nothing. :)

I'm open to ideas here. I was planning on focusing my work on the car to suspension and safety stuff and I know 110hp is enough for my first season. The only good 16 valve I have laying around was ran without oil until it stopped moving. :-|
 
#20 · (Edited)
You. Suck.

That car is absolutely MINT!!! 100% rust free and you're going to rally it?! God, over here I would put that thing in a damn museum lol.... ugh... makes me want to cry. :cry:.... Hell, the thing doesnt even look like it has a dent or scratch in it!

Oh well, if you must rally it, just throw a 16V N/A in it for now or a 16VT with boost turned down... Don't do a B motor.... Like the others said, you want reliability, and those water pumps are notorious for failing....

God I can't believe how rust free that thing is. How much did you pay for it and where did you find such a gem?!

The 16 valve and the 8 valve are the same, JK :)

The only difference is the shape of the manifold and the spark plugs are easier to get out!

A dual carb b motor would stomp a n/a 16 valve :twisted:
I thought you were putting the B motor in to get "used" to rallying.... why would you modify an unreliable and slow motor to go faster than an N/A 16V when you could swap in a stock 16VT in it....
 
#21 ·
The car is mint, and it will get the shit beat out of it. It's too bad, but the thing has been sitting here for months and we can't get rid of it. So I guess if I need to pick a car for a project I should pick the best, most unique one, right? :)

I like B-motors. No one has answered my firewall question yet about 16 valves with no ancillaries.

Nate Tennis has been rallying a 99 with a B-motor for years and he was doing fine. :)

Zach, what else do you do with a dual carb 8 valve manifold? Have you even seen one? :cool:
 
#22 ·
the firewall mod needs to be done, end of story, unless you loose the water pump and the alternator, or dont plan to ever change belts. if you are rallying, you are going to want to cut a big chunk out, so you can actually fit your hands back there to do a belt change when you inevitably need to do one.

Paul
 
#23 ·
It shouldn't be too hard to do either. All you'd need is a sawzall, some sheet metal, and a welder.

I hav't looked to hard at a stripped out 99 frame recently, but your could possibly reuse the some of original sheetmetal if you do it right.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I'm putting a B-motor in it. end of story. I might already have to miss next season just because I have so much work to do. I've seen geo metros finish ahead of a ton of WRX's. :)

Here's my list, front to back:

-Bumper. I think I need to weld 900 style mounts on it.. there arn't enough old bumpers around and they would get destroyed easy.
-Grille/lights. I may end up having to put a newer style grille in it.
-A-arms, newer axles (probably has the 2-nub style cv) - probably just the whole everything off the 84 vert
-B-motor from the EMS, 4 speed out of my 1980 - its an older 4 speed though
-Heater from newer style 99
-As many dash parts as I can find, before I have to go with sheet metal and airplaine style swithces
-Finish installation of c900 rear axle that was started by previous owner
-Turbo rear springs and shocks from a 900

Then I have to go through and do all the wiring brand new, all myself. I'm going to do what Luke did with the fuses/relays in the cabin. Kill switch, battery in the trunk, etc.

Somewhere along the lines I need to install a roll cage, racing seats, and harnesses.

And now its dark when I get off work. Great.
 
#30 ·
The problem with the tikka is, it's somewhat useless over 15 feet. Tikka, I wonder why you like it? :)


The princeton tec has a relector lens like a filament lightbulb but instead it has a 1watt led and throws da light out there.


And yes, I wll be crew cheif. I just need to gain about 300 pounds.
 
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