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Long time no post. When I joined this board nearly 20 years ago I wasn't real sure what rally was. Shortly after that, I became aware of what it was and wished I could do it, but that wasn't an option at the time. After taking some rally classes, i decided to compete my super beetle in rallycross. I then got involved in stage rally as a co-driver for another driver...
And now it's time to build my own car. I was hoping to pick up a salvage quality 74 super to build. But I ended up with a pretty nice 73 super instead, so the 74 is getting upgraded from beginner level rallycross car to proper stage rally car. At a minimum level this means adding a lot more safety features... ARA certified roll cage, racing seats, 5 point safety harnesses, fire suppression, intercoms, finding a way to mount rally tires to the car... and enough suspension to carry it down the road.
It's going to be a process. To start with, I need to repair the crescent vent rust on the 73 and replace all the rubber seals so it can sit in the weather. The 73 will be my recce car. In stage rally, you get to drive the roads you will be racing on before hand to make pace notes... but you aren't allowed to use your competition vehicle for recce. this often means teams are using their tow vehicle to make pace notes and the problem is you aren't seeing the road from the same driving position you will be racing from. As an added benefit, you have a spare parts car in the pits and save wear and tear on the tow vehicle.

After that is complete, I can take the body off the pan of the 74 and work on beefing up the pan and fixing rusty bits... then it's off for a cage. I plan to document the rally build here, but it's going to be slow going for a bit.

RSB, after reading you project it (in ways) is kind of like my 2-glass buggies builds in many ways except I ride on the soft sand type of dune vs. those who ride in more compact dune areas (soft sand is easier to get "stuck" in usually).


This is the main structural base of the unibody VW pan with the rotted-out floors removed and it is sitting on a homemade rotisserie. I've posted a lot about this in 2 different posts.

On the build for your rally toy what are the rules you have to comply with... assuming there are any real rules, as there are different ways of doing things to fix weak spots in the toy. Things like a body lift, front end changes to help limit dam(n)age such as travel protection and may be travel, plus things in the rear that can be done to support that end of the car also including suspension travel.

On the sand some of us beat the crap out of our toys...
while some of us just "cruise" around on the sand but changes can be, and usually some should be made.

If you want to get into a discussion on this let us know.

Lee

Thanks for the reply! When I was co-driving in stage rally we were racing against the top names in the sport in the USA like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block. I am building the car to compete at the same races... but not to place as highly. I have about 33 pages of technical rules to comply with. But I am very much open to any pointers! I am working on getting in touch with a guy who had a rally beetle competing in the midwest about 10 years ago. I am also looking into class 11 tricks. Should be fun!