Oooo! The next "this will save rally" is almost here!

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jimmy
Um, while that is neat, it isn't worth a d*mn if we don't get more workers out there at each event...

List of things which isn't worth a d*mn if we don't get more volunteers out there at each event:
Printing supp regs
Even _writing_ the supp regs
Timing cars
Inspecting cars
Wearing a race helmet
run 000,00,0 cars
Scoring a race
Going racing
And I could keep going and going and going...

You could make the same complaint about almost every aspect of rally Jimmy, mixing and matching just about any two components of rally.

"Total waste of time to X if you don't Y."
score the rally
have enough volunteers
get road permits
set up a radio communications network
get enough entries to break even
promote the sport
get new racers coming to events

Rally complaining mad-libs. Try it, it's amazing. Turns out, all critical aspects of rally are critical. This tautology means that removing any one critical piece renders the rest useless.

But the world is too grim if we let the possibility of future problems stop us from improving things we can work on TODAY.

Anders

---

Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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heymagic
I can help with initial funding if needed. It will need to be a nondenominational effort. Would be really helpful for noobs to see how to build a cage or 4 link a car or build rear turrets etc. We can talk all day here but a short video would be priceless.

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fiasco
If you're looking toward the "how-to" side of things, Grant and company have both video (MaxAttack) and build experience…and a new shop! And probably a new show, now too.

I've been wanting to do a build video series for years. It's always the time that is the constraint. First you have to spend a few hours planning it. Then you need to round up the people that can do the work. Be that the on screen labor, holding a video camera, editing, special effects, sound mixing, etc. I can do most things, it's just a little harder to do it solo. I suppose I should just Survivorman it instead of trying to recruit friends to help.

So, what should the first technical instruction video in the No Coast "How To" series be? Tar sheet removal? Roll cage construction? Rear turret fabrication? Gusset fabrication? Strut service? All of the above?

---

Grant Hughes

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NoCoast

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heymagic
I can help with initial funding if needed. It will need to be a nondenominational effort. Would be really helpful for noobs to see how to build a cage or 4 link a car or build rear turrets etc. We can talk all day here but a short video would be priceless.

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fiasco
If you're looking toward the "how-to" side of things, Grant and company have both video (MaxAttack) and build experience…and a new shop! And probably a new show, now too.

I've been wanting to do a build video series for years. It's always the time that is the constraint. First you have to spend a few hours planning it. Then you need to round up the people that can do the work. Be that the on screen labor, holding a video camera, editing, special effects, sound mixing, etc. I can do most things, it's just a little harder to do it solo. I suppose I should just Survivorman it instead of trying to recruit friends to help.

So, what should the first technical instruction video in the No Coast "How To" series be? Tar sheet removal? Roll cage construction? Rear turret fabrication? Gusset fabrication? Strut service? All of the above?

I say just buy some beater car off craigslist and do a build that would make it legal. From point A (having a car) to point B (racing said car). After that if you want, you can do mods and what not to it to show some extra stuff. But I would do that to my rally car and not the beater car XD

Jimmy,
We are fortunate to have a pretty good volunteer base out here, some great stage captains and a very adept volunteer organizer. I'd guess that a good video channel or library could help with volunteers. People get excited when they see something they like. As we know many new people are apprehensive about volunteering for fear of messing up, a couple good vids could possible alleviate that.

We need to pull us as a community together and we need to pull outsiders in. Chasing about FB isn't a good answer. Unity could save rally.

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NoCoast

So, what should the first technical instruction video in the No Coast "How To" series be? Tar sheet removal? Roll cage construction? Rear turret fabrication? Gusset fabrication? Strut service? All of the above?

Logically some words on thinking about the "whole process' which I call "Approach".

Second a warning that there should be no dogma ie warning that just because you have a 1999 Turd-sell that the complete lack of any information about the car is craeating "self-made problems" and leads to the project killing "dead end"..

That would want serious seriousness stressing how many guys get "bwilliant ideas" cause they have some ridiculous POS they are "waaaaaaaaaaaaaay into"..

This would be a time to show/link to a couple of hundred hours of club events in UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Oz, and NZ----and some contrasting links to guys here in North America in typical barely warned over junk crawling out of corners...

The whole section being labeled "FOOD FOR THOUGHT" in an attempt to break the phenomenon we see operating here which is at best "the blind leading the blind"...

And to pre-empt the grouchy asses who accuse other stupidly of being "you only think YOUR way is the only way" point out explicitly that the references to those 10s of thousands of OTHER drivers in countries with long standing popular programs is pointing out THEIR way...their way where people stay in the sport depite significantlly higher total costs of living and of doing rallies... THEY have figured out EVERYTHING decades ago---
Referencing what others have done so well is not anybody here's idea, it is simple logic...
Why reinvent the wheel?

There well could be sub-sections on specific types of cars with the typical stupid problems like the spline count of the cheesoid little R160s rear diffs being different from spline count on the desirable R180 diffs-----or the lack of any new gears or transfer case guts on the early Eclipsed/talon/Gaylants--a big warning to stay away...

Then a smart person could use the format--ie chapters by chapters of something well thought out such as the Ford Escort and/or Sierra books :
Chapter 1: Bodyshells, Fittings and skid shields
Chapter 2 Engine and cooling,
Chapter 3 Front suspension
Chapter 4 Rear suspension
Chapter 5 Wheels and tires
Chapter 6 Drive line: transmission, Final Drive, drive shafts

etc.

Details rather than the typical vague BS.....again stressing that everything we need to know and do was done and refined long ago figured out and applied successfully by thousands of others elsewhere and that the real problem is sourcing affordable parts.

And stress again and again the folly of thinking that since some guy in Bumfuck, Iowa said "I like my _______________" doesn't mean that YOU might like something better even more.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

This is a good time for me to remind everyone that, "Rally on a Budget" for Subaru's is still available at the low price of $75. Since I'm not racing against my customers, I'm now almost giving away ten years of experience running a pretty successful car in National events. Surdyke finally killed it (I think it was fixable) and it's finishing record was 90% in over 50 events! rz

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randyzimmer
This is a good time for me to remind everyone that, "Rally on a Budget" for Subaru's is still available at the low price of $75. Since I'm not racing against my customers, I'm now almost giving away ten years of experience running a pretty successful car in National events. Surdyke finally killed it (I think it was fixable) and it's finishing record was 90% in over 50 events! rz

Gawddam doood, dontcha know? Get with the times. Information HAS TO be presented in a format that Rallyracerists can instantly access anytime...and preferably video so that they don't have to like read and stuff.
TL/DR rule ya know---that's how it works. Weriting "too long, I didn't read" would wear them out, mentally overload them and their heads would ass-splode..


Do you have a video version of the book with action clips and graphics and your live in service crew in the piccie crawling all over servicing you?
Where is the link?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

JVL,
www.yourallyporn.com
will save rally!

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randyzimmer
JVL,
www.yourallyporn.com
will save rally!

Just bring porn into rally. The rest will sort itself out.

Anders posted this on facebook. Seemed relevant here:
"Retention: 44% of rally drivers will do 3 or less events ever. 24% of rally drivers will enter just a SINGLE event."

I conjecture that all our organizers, volunteers, and spectators are composed of a mix of former rallyists and friends/family of current and former rallyists but that it takes more than three events to truly become a rallyist.

---

Grant Hughes

It takes a trust fund, a six-figure income, or no kids to become a rallyist by that metric. :derp:

---

Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

After guys run all the rallies around them once or twice they become more choosy on what there rally schedule will be like in the future.

There needs to be a reason to pic your rallies after that. 1 is going to be your local rally the next ones to me are going to be based on the best event with the best drivers to compare your skills to.

If the competition is deep and your in the mix chances are you will go the extra mile to get the funds to make the next event. As soon as you FEEL out funded you either step up, step out or just run the local event and enjoy rally. Points championships help but as soon as they become tow championships teams bow out. Rally has to be competative deep in the field with fast guys up front as bench marks to get middle class out more then once a year.

Every time I look at an entry list I guess who will win each class. The more guys you can fit in there that are fast the more my heart pumps and wants to enter that event. You would not believe how bummed I was last year when they had Orders,Breeves and ACP and no Deplesis. Open light is getting good but its still not getting all the guys needed at 1 event to make a super good class.

OL has not seen a 30k engine and a sequential trans come spoil the fun yet and with out a rule
change it will happen. Its cheap now make it a national class and watch how long it takes for guys to step up there car prep.

---

First rally 2013
Rally car type AWD subaru
Total rallies as driver 6
Total rally cars built 2
Total rally cars caged 3
Total rally cars repaired from offs 4
Total years racing exp other then rally 19 yrs
Like 31motorsports on FB!
Check out 31motor sales on ebay for used Subaru parts

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NoCoast
Anders posted this on facebook. Seemed relevant here:
"Retention: 44% of rally drivers will do 3 or less events ever. 24% of rally drivers will enter just a SINGLE event."

That's how I got my car, one of the 24% decided not to advance to the 44%.

---

Yes, it's a Ranger.
Xr4Ti, it is rwd and was made in Germany.

"... with out a rule change it will happen..."
Take the initiative, if somebody talks about spending money, shun them. Tell them it isn't the fun way and if they do it, forget having beers and trading parts. Tell their crew to stop helping them. If you have to, (last resort) protest everything. If a trophy is worth not having friends and fun, that's up to them.

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randyzimmer
...if somebody talks about spending money, shun them. Tell them it isn't the fun way and if they do it, forget having beers and trading parts. Tell their crew to stop helping them. If you have to, (last resort) protest everything. If a trophy is worth not having friends and fun, that's up to them.

Shunning and protesting isn't really what I think rally is about.
Chances are, in open light no matter what somebody spends, good driving will beat it. So, if someone wants to spend money - let 'em, and beat them on the road.

(I've seen a tendency for people to spend money in an attempt to get speed when they aren't anywhere near maxing out their driving. Conversely, I've regularly seen good drivers take 'lesser' cars further up the standings than other, better prepared cars.)

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

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john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.