These pictures and captions were provided by Todd Walrich and may only be used for private viewing purposes.
The car is a '72 4 door that was stripped to a body shell to be built into a semi-tubeframe pro rally car in the winter of '86. The car's first race was in June '87. It had an L16 SSS motor ported and matched with a built 4 speed and locked 3.90 R160. Kontrolle gas all around and Safari springs and struts. In August of '88 an L20B Turbo was installed. At the beginning the motor was making 185hp and we started going thru tranny's and rear ends fairly regularly in Pro Rally's. Solutions to these problems were found in going to a completely rebuilt '79 Truck 5 speed. Same unit as a Z but bigger bearings. This is the tranny they started using in the 280ZX's. We got our hands on a couple of R190's with all the gearsets. 5.13's are great for rallying. Started running paved hillclimbs in 1990. Had to drop the suspension 2" and take some more weight out of the car. Since then we have further developed and raced the car in the Northeast Division SCCA SOLO I Hillclimb Series. Won the NeDiv Championship '93, '94, '95 in the ProRally class. Won the East Coast Championship in '94, '95. The car is currently making 230hp with a 10 point cage, semi-tubeframe, same truck 5 speed, Centerforce dual friction clutch, R190's w/ 3.90, 4.44, & 5.13 all locked. Completely adjustable suspension is a custom mix from Design Products, Neeley Motorsports, and our own design and fabrication (Rallye Engineering) using cut 280ZX struts and disks all around with Carbon Kevlar pads. This dropped the car another 1 1/2". BFG R1 tires on Panasport rims. 6 Point TRW Camloc Harness with Ultrashield Aluminum Seat. Glass fenders, hood and trunk lid. We built the molds for these items from stock parts. BTW, we call ourselves Wolf Creek Racing and we're on Long Island in Westbury, NY.
1997 Update: We started this year by custom fabricating a Fuel Injection manifold and new Turbo manifold for a bigger turbo. The intent was to use an Electromotive TECII system, bigger turbo and intercooler. After much fitting and fabbing including a 3" exhaust, I'm pleased to say that it all works perfectly and is truly awesome (I hate that word but it fits). The programability and relative ease of use of the system is great. I actually run with a lapop bolted to the floor for the 8 channel graphic data logging of the software. This allows fast tuning and easy monitoring of all engine functions. I hate to admit it but I haven't changed the plugs all season (12 Races). I haven't changed a jet or twisted a distributor since they are no longer there! The engine makes over 250hp @ 1 BAR of boost and with the intercooler for lower charge air temps, the engine makes more power and actually runs cooler on all temps because of the greater efficiency. The Carbon Kevlar Pads are also phenomenal but after a roadrace, the rims are black from carbon dust.
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This is going over the "jump" at the Wetherly HillClimb in 1994. |
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This is coming out of "The Devil's Elbow" at the Giant's Despair Hillclimb in Wilkes Barre, PA. This is North America's oldest consecutive hillclimb with 90 years this year (96). Pix was in '95. |
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This is turn 7 at the Duryea Hillclimb. Turn 7 is just after "Oh Shit", a kink in the road at which point you are usually doing over 100 mph and have to haul it all the way down for this hairpin. Corner comes up fast, hence the name. A little power on oversteer. |
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his is the very hard right hander going into the jump shown in the first picture. Note the inside front tire! Tires working real well. |
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This is the starting line at the Giant's Despair. Note the "power squat". When the boost comes on, you better be pointed in the direction you want to go! |
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Just an interesting background coming to the starting line at Pine Grove Hillclimb. |
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This pix is from a Divisional Pro Rally in 1989. The Tiadaghton Pro Rally in North Central Pennsylvania. The pix was taken from a boat in a lake. The stick shown in front of the car was taken out by the car behind us. He almost got wet! |
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This is from the Pocono Pro Rally in the Pocono Mountains of Pensylvania in 1988. The car was running an L16SSS motor at the time with a 2 1/4" exhaust. Almost got the photographer Bob Sanderson. |
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This pix is from the 1997 Giants Despair Solo I Hillclimb. Great view of the valley overlooking Wilkes-Barre, PA. Coming up a 24% grade to the finish line (orange cones) at something approaching 100 mph. Note the 20 mph sign in the background. The 24% grade is steeper than any section on Pikes Peak Road. Intercooler behind drivers side headlight bezel. |
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Coming out of a hairpin at the 1997 Duryea hillclimb. That's a fuel pressure gauge on the cowl. |
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A little track action at Bridgehampton before it gets closed down. This is a fantastic course with good elevation changes. Pix in 1995 |
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Coming down the back stretch at New Hampshire International Speedway on the road course. Hauling it down for a right hander uphill on the road section but was going way too fast and............................... |
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Guess what happens when you are going way too fast!. Got lucky and didn't hit anything. |
I've got a hood in storage that looks somewhat like yours. The scoop is in the center and it's probably a lot heavier.
The hood is a glass piece made from a stock splash mold. The scoop is one of the cheapie plastic jobs from J.C. Whitney. It comes drilled for rivetting and we placed it directly over the downdraft DGV so we could run the tallest K&N filter. I was concerned that the scoop was going to be typical Whitney but it was a brand name ( don't remember though as it was a couple of years back) and looks great and is very functional and doesn't weigh anything. Simply painted it to match the hood before rivetting it on. BTW the DGV was heavily modified and we had to make the jets as they weren't available in the sizes we needed! Engine flows alot of air with a three inch turbo and a three inch exhaust. We're obviously at the upper limit of the carb drawthru setup as we occasionally suck the upper plate gaskets into the venturi's. We're working on an FI setup with different turbos.
I'm curious about your suspension settings. What modifications have you made to the geometry and what settings do you run?
We haven't installed the rear crossmember yet this offseason, probably after the holidays. We never ran anything adjustable in the rear for rally racing because of the abuse potential. It just never would have held the adjustment. Up front we run about 2.5 degrees negative camber and about the same positive caster. Only about 1" additional track on each side.