How's it going there. I’ve been lurking around here on and off for about 2 years now, and have been thinking that I wanted to play in the dirt for even longer (blame Stig Blomqvist). So, I finally bought a car.

It’s George Thompson’s old 242, here seen at the height of its rallying glory.



George built it himself, ran 5-6 rallies and then parked it in 2001 after losing a fight with a rock at Tall Pines



This left the RF frame rail ahead of the wheel well bent up by something like 6-9 inches, but it was later (kinda) straightened out. Here ‘tis today:




Looking down on frame rail from above. Not bad, I suppose.

The car’s in pretty good working order, all things considered.

B23 bottom end
405 head, titanium springs
Some cam that Topi sold George with 12.6mm lift, 310deg duration
And twin 45 DCOE Webers.



Currently has a M45 with 4.11 rear fitted, but came with 4.56 rear with Volvo LSD (apparently not the Dana 30, but a pukka Volvo part).

Suspension consists of Volvo R-sport strut cartridges and HD springs with 21mm bar up front, Bilstein HD shocks with stock 242 springs and 23mm bar in back.

Big bummer: Cage is undersized by today’s standards, I believe – 1.5 x 0.120” DOM. Ultimately, the main hoop will (I guess) have to be cut out and replaced, additional diagonals and thingies added.

Tons of parts. TONS of parts. 2 spare M46 trans, mountains of wheels and very old tires, ported head with K-cam, 4 big honking Cibie lights, 2 Solex ADDHE carbs that we couldn’t get running…lots of parts here currently taking up a ton of space in the garage. There are worse problems to have.

Anyhow, just introducing myself, looking for sage advice, guidance, “attaboy,”--whatever seems appropriate.

Short-term plans:
Get the little bit of rust reined in.
Install lights (yes, I have nice roundie lights)
Remount seat. Although it sure didn’t seem like it, George must be at least 6’20”.
Register as historic (!), insure. No tow vehicle yet…
Bolt up 4.56 rear
Have some lovely soul put studs in the supAr awesome but ancient Michelin C5 snows, and go ice racing.
Get in line for the next run of JVAB 50mm goodness (fronts only; just bought Houston’s rears)

Medium-term plans:
Buy some tires that were manufactured within the last 2 years or so
Go “rallycross” with SCCA and Rallysprint with the freewheeling Bolivians, both of whom run at Summit Point, WV – very close!
Get in line for the JVAB Volota 4-link bastard thing
Replumb the brakes. HATE the diagonal circuit. Figure out how to plumb in hydraulic e-brake, maybe do something supertrick and plumb brake so it disengages clutch when yanked.

Long-term plans:
Tow vehicle, trailer
T5, spare
Hit the stages. Bounce off of a tree.
Find a spare shell.
Get turbocharged
Bite lip, give hell.
Bounce off tree
Start again
and so on


Nice to be here. Reading everything you knuckleheads have been up to over these past few years has been very helpful, motivating, and um...nice, I guess. Yes, nice.

Thanks there for doing what you do and whatnot. Hope to hang out here more.

Shit dude you're from Freakin Mt. Airy???

I grew up in Frederick...Small world dude.

I got a buddy with 3000 acres in Urbana... You should bring that volvo out there some time and play on the track we built.

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Michael LeCompte



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2008 11:35PM by pikespeakgtx.

Niiiice!
Maybe I ll run into you at the rallysprints or rallyxs

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

right on, You got one hell of deal on that giant pile of crap.

I almost bought that thing, but I'm on the wrong coast. The cage is just finished on my 242, complete with with the JVAB rear towers. I may just try it out and see if they work one of these days. Way to snag that set from that foolish Houston (just joshing, Hue).

Welcome to the cult! I mean club!

-Alberto

Aww, shucks - thanks for the welcome, boys. I'm psyched to get on with it, and very happy to have gotten such a good deal on a car that's nearly ready to go.

Michael - I just moved down here 2 years ago from Jersey, where we don't seem to have 3000 acres of land primed and ready for such hooliganism. Looks like I made the right choice, then...

What's your pal's name? You ever make it back east? That hometown of yours is pretty nice.

Ozgur - hope to catch up with you somewhere. Do you come down here for r/x?

Alberto - yeah, very good deal. George is a thoroughly decent guy, too. I almost bought this, too - back in '05 when he'd first put it up for sale. But, priorities shifted, and here I am today.

I'll be talking to ya.

Yeah we plan around the sprints and rallyxs but havent done one yet as they get cancelled due to bad weather. Apparently gets very slick. However, we do run some test sessions with some other rallyists. I will let you know if anything will be planned soon...

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

^ Thanks, broham -- please do.

My parents lived in Mt. Airy for a year before deciding to return to NH.

You've got a pretty big salvage yard there on Rt. 26 (not a pick-n-pull, but they drive you out there and pull what you need). I think this is the place:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Unionville+road+Mt.+Airy+Maryland&sll=39.344122,-77.12059&sspn=0.106469,0.219383&ie=UTF8&ll=39.458927,-77.104862&spn=0.006643,0.013711&t=h&z=16

Bob's Welding (somewhere along 26) has some good guys who did some decent work repairing my dad's trailer. I think they sell truck and tractor parts in the front...but it's been a while. Probably a good resource for getting those oddball bits of metal you may need during the rebuild.

Thus endeth my knowledge of Mt. Airy.

Good luck with the Volvo!

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

The handbrake in a rear drive car only gets used when you fuck up. Don't really need it to disengage the clutch also. Though it's not too difficult to do if you have a hydraulic clutch setup and spend a few minutes looking at what Ford did on the early AWD cars.

Congrats on the buy. I was going to buy a bunch of part's from that car a few years ago when I was thinking of building a 240. You'll have fun with it for sure.
Get the suspension on, lowest final drive you can, and get to having some fun!

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Grant Hughes

I make it back East pretty often. I'll be going back to eat Turkey with the family in here in a couple months.

When you're out driving around the area keep a lookout for signs in the shape of a big red apple with Mackintosh Realtors on it. Thats him.

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Michael LeCompte

Welcome to the insanity.

Glad to see that George's car went to a good home and may see the stages again. Your cage should be grandfathered in, but you may need to add some more bars.

George and Skip were the first two guys I talked to about rallying a 240 about 8 years ago or so. I just got the rallybrick.com site back up (not all of it yet), but I had history on this car posted on there for a while.

Does it still have the "Hang Up and Drive" sticker on the bumper?

...Brian...

I'll do my best to give it a good home.

Will be perusing the local yards for volvobits, supra diffs, mazda brakes, etc.

Thanks again for the welcome and the pointers already, compadres. Very much appreciated.

BTW, I wouldn't use those Virgos for rally. They are much too soft and bend very easily. Better off with the 10 spoke 15" rims off a 740 turbo or 740 diesel (I think mid 80's). Slightly different offset, but very tough. I find them at the pick a part every time I go. I've only bent one and that was a very, very big rock.

...Brian...