First in the long list of things I need to take care of is the suspension. Instead of going over the list of things I can’t afford - let’s look at rally suspension experiment #1. We’ll call this the GS1 for (Ghetto Suspension Numero Uno)

GS1
4 KYB GR2 struts. These are non adjustable, slightly stiffer then stock, replacement struts. They have a throw-away price of $50 each. Front SRT-4 springs. Stiffer then stock. About 1.25″ taller. Rear stock or junkyard springs. Looking for the same ride height with more stiffness.

This swap will also include replacing all of the bushings with hard neoprene ones. I already know I’m going to need the “flame wrench” for most of these. Once everything is cleaned, greased, and de-rusted - it will be reassembled.

This should give me the ride height I need, upgrade my handling to the 21st century, and last a rally. Don’t worry - I plan on having spares.

Update: PickA-Part
Over the weekend Christine, Sean, Ian and I went to the Worcester junk yard. We were able to get: Front struts, springs, knuckles, hubs, calipers, control arms, swaybar, and a power steering pump. All of this I tied together with weather-striping and carried out for $30. All you can carry - $30. Full set of front suspension spares - priceless!

Click here for WRC Rally Mexico Pictures.
I took about 400 pictures, of these I’ve selected 150 of my favorites. They are in order of the rally and stages we saw.

My overall impression of WRC Mexico: We had a fantastic time. We made new friends in Mexico. The people there are great and really try to give you all that they have. We tried as best we could to spend as little money as possible and “rally with the people”. We learned that you can have an awesome time at this rally without spending $300 each on Gold VIP passes. Sure, there’s free beer at the VIP area - but It’s only $0.60 a bottle. It was very organized for an FIA event, and extremely organized compared to previous events I’ve attended. It could use some polishing, but I agree that the organizers deserved the “Inmarsat Star of the Rally” award. This was quite an effort for their first WRC event.

About a month ago, Christine surprised me with flight tickets to Leon, Mexico. “I wanted this to be a surprise - but I need your help.” I was impressed that she would even try to make it a complete surprise. “I’m pretty sure you’ll figure out what it’s for if I were to tell you to take March 10th through the 16th off and you need a passport.” “Rally Mexico.” I smiled back. “See - I knew it.” She said. This is hands down, the best surprise ever.

Rally Mexico is the newest addition to the WRC (World Rally Championship). It is the only WRC rally run in North America. Rally Mexico has been a part of a smaller series and has been run for many years. If this event goes well, “us lazy Americans” will have the ability to watch the best drivers in the world, first hand, every year.

We are finalizing the details. We have flights, hotel, rental, etc. booked. Since Christine shopped early we were able to get the cheap flights and the hotel booked well before they filled up. Now we just have to pack.

I decided to take my digital camera instead of the video camera. I’m a better photographer then videographer. Plus the overhead is smaller. I’ll be buying another 128MB stick and borrowing one from my brother. So I’ll be able to shoot well over 200 3.3MP shots. “Take a bajillion pictures!” James demanded. I shoot about 150 pictures during Maine Forest Pro Rally, so I’m using that as a guide.

Fear not - I will have a full update with pictures when we return. - Kris