Swedish Endeavors: Project Rally Tractor

So after some prodding I have decided to finally post a build log here so that I might learn something now and others might in the future. I didn’t feel this was necessary when the car was just a rallyx beater but now that we are taking the big steps to a full stage build, the effort will be worth it.

So what has gone on up to this point?

I have a much more detailed build log of the progress up to this point over at: http://forums.dirtydrifters.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12 It’s a bit chopped up as we changed websites awhile ago and the thread was copied from the old site.

The short of it is that the car was a 1981 Volvo 242 B21F with a ipd VX cam. Shit Brown no dash no interior. Purchased in April of ’06 for $300.



An older pic after I swapped to the newer bumpers and euro turns signal lenses.

Some of the other relevant things done since purchase include:
-Deleted mechanical, clutch type fan, replaced with e-fan with adj thermostat
-wheel/axle bearings all the way around
-Welded 4.27 rear, up from stock, open 3.41


-JVAB Group A inverted Bilstein coilovers w/ 350lb springs
-Boxed lower control arms
-Mazda GenII Rx7 Turbo II calipers -New ball joints
-Volvo 740T 11.25" vented rotors
-Poly front control arm bushings
-Braided SS brake lines front and rear
-Replaced e-brake cables and pads
- Gathered 10 15" Volvo Sirius wheels
-Installed dash and cluster w/ tach, glove box replaced with 3/8" hd plastic w/ bracing behind it to mount maplight and rally computer
-Removal of sound insulation, ~ 40 lbs
-treatment of surface rust, prep and paint interior
-Relocated battery to passenger side, rear
-OMP WRC steering wheel and adapter hub
-Converted front end to flat hood w/ single rounds, hella H4s 90 low 120 high
-Updated to newer, lighter plastic bumpers
- hood pins

Also started working on getting together all of the needed safety equipment. Including a nice set of Cobra Imola S seats that Barrett at All Wheels Driven hooked me up with. Unfortunately one of these met its demise when the FX-16 went up in flames at Idaho.

Other safety items on hand:
-2 G-force 5 point, cam lock, harnesses
-Terraphone pro intercom system (back up)/ Peltor 120 intercom
-2 Safety triangles, 1 more needed
- 25' emergency tow rope
- 18” gooseneck map light
- Alfa Pro rally computer

Some other bits that have been sourced
-B23f donor motor and accessories
-Borg Warner T5 WC, tag number 1352-169, form a 86.5-89 Mustang 5.0. Rated to 265 lb/ft of torque with an input shaft length of 7.18, diameter of 0.668 in. The input shaft length is of particular importance for use w/ the redblock.

Gearing:
1st 3.35, 2nd 1.93, 3rd 1.29, 4th 1.00, 5th 0.68, R 3.15
This is in comparison to the m46 garbage truck ratios of:
1st 4.03, 2nd 2.16, 3rd 1.37, 4th 1.00, 5th 0.79, R 3.68


-Avalanche Performance adapter plate
-Steeda Tri-ax shifter
-JV is also providing one of his 15 lb flywheels, clutch disc, and pressure plate.

Havin a blast


So I think this brings us up to the major stuff that we have just gotten into. I’ll make that my next post.

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Zap zap my ass...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2012 11:11PM by slidewayswrx.

Over the summer JV got me the rear coil overs


And William at TSS Fab supplied me with a kit for the four link


At the end of the summer I strip the car to a rolling shell and trailered it over to Blake Lind's (sidewaez) shop


It was then placed on the rotisserie


The plotting commenced


And then we let the sparks fly


Boxes placed

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Zap zap my ass...

We then shifted focus to the axle. We will be fabricating our own pan hard bar but wanted to continue to use the same heims and spacers that william provided with the four link kit. So after a SHORT phone conversation, William had enough pieces in the mail for the pan hard, and 1 fully set up spare for another pan hard and 1 upper, and 1 lower link.

The old mounting tabs were ground off, while trying to maintain the e-brake cable mounts


The axle ground clean and new ears being placed


after tacking the ears into place its time for a test fit


And thats were we sit now. The joints, spacers, etc should be here in the next few days and we start work on the pan hard bar and the towers. Also the front suspension will get sent back to JVL for new longer inserts, softer springs and valving.

This build is far more than I could ever achieve on my own so I have to thank, not only the knowledge and motivation that the board brings, but also the tight knit group that is the Dirty Drifters. Blake and Kyle have been helping a lot recently but there are a handful of others as well that have given tons and asked nothing in return. This kind of comradery not only kicks ass but it makes rally the great sport that it is.

So now that we are up to speed expect me to be in here asking questions. I only want to do this once and I want it to be right.

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Zap zap my ass...

Great build up so far, all the right bits for having a reliable rally car.

-Jon

I am very jelous of your group down there, it is what I wish we had up here.

Can't wait to battle!

First question? Trying to find pics of Volvo's with the four link and towers. anyone know of some other than Ian and Charles' builds?

How about how to go about figuring out what master cylinders to use? Going dual, no assist.

Thanks for the help

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Zap zap my ass...

very cool!

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Quote
phlat65
I am very jelous of your group down there, it is what I wish we had up here.

You guys do have a good group up there you just need a good team name!

Quote
slidewayswrx
First question? Trying to find pics of Volvo's with the four link and towers. anyone know of some other than Ian and Charles' builds?

How about how to go about figuring out what master cylinders to use? Going dual, no assist.

Thanks for the help

Look more for Ford piccies.

Masters depends on the calipers..note that when Kevin and I pulled off the booster, the RX7 calipers were suddenly not adequate. So we invented a nice kit for Superlites and a bigger rotor.

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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.

We should be able to compensate for the lack of booster with the amount of hydraulic pressure (master cylinder size) that we use. Correct? Brakes have been gone through once and I'd rather not do that again. After a bit of research I beleive the Rx7 front Calipers to have a bore size of 1.38"
And this is the info I found for the Volvo rear brakes and master cylinder sizes:
Master Cylinder Diameters
Primary ..................................... .88 (22.3)
Secondary .................................. .62 (15.75)
Rear Brake Caliper Pistons (ATE) ................ 1.5 (38) in In. (mm)

Something does not sound right there. Would that be a per piston measurement? Giving almost 4x the total cylinder size in the front?


I'll look for more ford pics but that isn't quite as helpful when trying to figure out box and tower placement, etc. Are the swedes not doing this for the Volvos they are building. If not then why are we?

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Zap zap my ass...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2012 01:18PM by slidewayswrx.

Correct. Depending on your desired pedal force and travel, MC bore size can compensate for lack of a brake booster. The smaller the MC diameter is, the more braking force you will create per force on the pedal and pedal travel. You should be able to get the right amount of force for the FC calipers, though after removing that booster, your pedal will forever feel like stomping on a brick wall (which I personally prefer, to be honest).

I've created a couple braking force calculators on Excel. One is for a dual MC Formula SAE car application (harder to use unless you know your CG height, as well as sprung and unsprung mass), and the other is for a full-sized car (single MC, but could be easily modified for dual MC, [which I may be doing for a school project this evening]). Shoot me your email and I'll send them to you if you want. That way you can dial in what Master Cylinder you will need.

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011

Thanks Evan that would be awesome!

Pm sent.
Pat

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Zap zap my ass...

By the way, it's mid-quarter in school, so my brain sucks lately and I typed that reversed from what I was trying to say.

What I meant to say was:
A smaller MC bore will create higher braking force at the caliper for amount of input at the pedal, ie a softer pedal and more pedal travel.
Conversely, a larger MC bore will displace more fluid for amount of pedal travel. This means that the input force needs to be greater for the same amount of braking force as the smaller MC. This is the stiffer pedal or "brick wall" I mentioned previously.

When you set this up with a dual MC, you have your smaller MC for the front brakes and larger for the rear. When the brake pedal is depressed, the bias bar displaces each MC a different amount. When you adjust the bias bar, you're having it displace each MC, but more importantly, the rear MC more or less to create more or less rear braking force per input pedal force/displacement.

I'm making my calculator more understandable to someone who didn't write it and will email it to you this evening.

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011

P.S. Anyone else who would like a copy of this, PM me your email address and I'll share the love.

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011

Cosworth (Paul) is the best person to talk to about sizing master cylinders.

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Grant Hughes