The Teardown – Phase I

Posted on by

Good news, bad news. Somehow we must have installed the axle wrong. When we popped it out, or jammed it in (in 6 seconds). I think that maybe one of the bearings popped out of the hub side. The axle rolled forward and without a bearing in there, it crunched up the ‘end bits’.

I know this because Harry and Dan stopped by the shop and we installed a back-up axle. Everything seemed to turn nicely and I took Ze’Neon down the street for a quick ‘is the tranny blowed up?’ test. 1st through 5th – all working! I even did a tire chirp-burnout to stress the axle. If it’s going to break, I want it 50 feet from the shop. So I zip down the street one more time and whip the car around. Wide open throttle in first and then the car falls on its face. “Uh oh…” I mumble. Some sort of fuel starvation from the tight corner probably. I have a half tank of gas though… The power picks up and I make it back to the shop. Then it stumbles again. Seems like a fuel issue and probably why it’s been hard to start it.

I hot-wire the fuel pump and we took the remaining fuel out of the gas tank and into a container. It’s coming out of the hose for the fuel rail very weak. Sorta like a foam soap dispenser. The gas is all frothy and the flow can’t be right. It may be the lack of pressure, but the Neon doesn’t use a return line in the engine. The fuel is looped and cycled through the filter next to the tank and then drawn off the filter for its long journey up to the fuel rail.

We dropped the tank and took the baby out to have a look. All the seals and connections are fine – so I’m chalking this up to the fuel pump right now. I’m also not ruling out the filter. We have a fresh metal tank courtesy of Harry to install the new pump into. I have to strengthen / shield / kevlar the bottom side this time to prevent future gas tank issues. I have thought about and rejected a ‘dual fuel pump’ system for this car. If I was planning on a fuel cell and firewall – SURE! At this point I have other things to spend my money on…

Stage Notes Radio – North American Rally Podcast.

Posted on by

Stage Notes Radio North American Rally podcast
Quick note: Rally buddies Erik Christiansen and Eddie Fiorelli have launched a new podcast called ‘Stage Notes Radio’. The first one is out and it sounds great. Both of them are down to earth, budget competitors, that have been around rally for as long as I have. They cover the championships, the rules, and the rumors. I love it and I want to pass it on to my rally friends. Enjoy! Stage Notes Radio

Way more Laughlin Video!

Posted on by

2007 Laughlin Rally Grand Canyon StageIf you want to see what it takes to finish the Laughlin Rally – you’ve come to the right spot.

This week I started with our fast night stage ‘Cane Springs’ done to some funky beats and decided to release the rest of the rally stages. SS7 ‘Black Canyon’ was where we went off last year. It’s a fun stage with some good speed. SS8 is ‘Diamond Creek Down’ a how fast can you go downhill stage that just won’t stop getting rougher. SS9 ‘Diamond Creek’ Is a 12 minute long musical overview of the last stage we ran. It’s an epic adventure that starts out with us creeping over the boulders. We slowly gain speed and start passing stranded rally cars. Finally we emerge from the Grand Canyon carrying a good average speed.

This will be the most videos I’ve ever released for one rally. Check out the low-res on Google and if you like what you see, help yourself to some rallynotes.com videos for Thanksgiving. Go ahead, have a second helping! :D

2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS2 “Trust” – 40.9MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS2
2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS5 “Can Springs at night + music” – 50.3MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS5
2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS6 “Black Canyon In” – 77.3MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS6
2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS7 “Black Canyon Out + music” – 81.0MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS7
2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS8 “Diamond Creek Down” – 63.6MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS8
2007 Laughlin International Rally – SS9 “Diamond Creek Up + music” – 69.2MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS9

In it to win big in Laughlin. The whole story!

Posted on by

The week had a certain feeling to it. Like you would be working on something and get 99.9% there, and you would have to work harder then the original 99% to accomplish that remaining 0.1%. For example, you get packed up and ready to go and you’re just about to walk out the door – but you can’t find your keys. You then spend the next hour tearing the house apart just to finish your goal.

After a discussion about driving cars around and meeting up with trailers in the middle of the desert, we decided it would be easiest if we towed the car on our dolly out to Nevada and met up with Kevin, Danielle, and Jake in Laughlin. They would bring their four wheel trailer empty for the ease of the Laughlin Rally Transit System. What I’m talking about is the fact that Laughlin is a rally that takes place about 80 miles away (from the rally HQ) in Arizona. Peach Springs, Wikieup, all not close to the river hotels. This means the crew gets up, loads up, and drives 2 hours every morning for pretty much a week.

Much, much, Continue reading →

RALLYNOTES TEAM SURPRISE 2007 USRC PRODUCTION CHAMPIONS!

Posted on by

USRC Production 2WD Champions at Laughlin International RallyThe team started the 2007 Laughlin International Rally and Motorsports Festival last weekend with hopes of doing well in a regional class and to secure a runner up spot in the United States Rally Championship Production Two Wheel Drive Class. In an unbelievable twist with a rule in the 2007 USRC regulations the team was completely unaware of, the event was scored high enough so that they would have a shot at winning the championship.

Early in the rally on Friday the team passed their competition, a Ford SVT Focus driven by Hampton Bridwell & Josh Katinger. They were stopped on SS3 and forced to retire after losing a timing belt. At this point, if the Rallynotes team finished the rally they would have enough points to win, but simply finishing this event would prove to be a dramatic challenge.

Friday night the extra protection from plastic skidplates added to the rear of the car for this event started to overheat the gas tank. Driver Kristopher Marciniak explains: “All I could smell was fuel. We pulled over on the transit back to service and I opened the fuel cap and got the expected ‘woosh’ of over-pressurized fumes. Later that night my Crew Chief Harry Bushling made some adjustments with a battery powered jig saw.”
Continue reading →

2007 Laughlin Rally video and pictures.

Posted on by

Big jump on SS2 Laughlin Rally

Right off the bat Laughlin starts with a fast stage that has lots of exposures and blind crests. Christine and I picked up a new term this weekend: ‘Trust’ – Even in a little production car, in order to go as fast as you can, you can’t be lifting over blind crests. When the notes are spot on and you trust, you fly! About 4:00 minutes in SS2 there is a big long hill and I shift to 4th just before it. ‘Trust.’

You’ll notice that this stage was stopped shortly afterwards. We’re glad to hear that Jason Waples & John Dillon are okay after landing hard. John Dillion hurt his back, but is recovering and even considered getting back in the car for Saturday. Check out this link to their painful video. The big off came from Rafal Listopad & Greg Dorman who flew off one of the big exposures later in the stage. Both driver and co-driver are okay and we’re glad no one was injured.

I have started to add pictures to the 2007 Laughlin Gallery and will continue to add as I get them. The funny ones are all from Dan Green who was on the crew and managed to snap some pics while making fun of Kaiser ;) .

Laughlin International Rally – ‘Trust’ Yellow Pine Ranch – SS2 40.9MB WMV
Low-res preview

Roller coaster weekend – we’re back from Laughlin.

Posted on by

Neon axle swap at a rallycross
John Black’s Neon becomes a parts car for the rallynotes.com Rally Neon at the FRX Rallycross.

I can’t tell little parts of the story. I have to tell the whole story, so I’m working on it right now.
Yes, you read the scores correctly. We are the 2007 USRC Production Class Champions!
I’m encoding video and collecting pictures. Look for everything to trickle in soon!

2007 Laughlin International Rally Results
Rallynotes.com 2007 Laughlin Pictures

Laughlin rally car tracking and its communication challenges.

Posted on by

APRS rally carPretty much the reason I got into APRS and my ham license is because of what happened last year at this event. Just in-case you missed it, you can re-live Black Canyon SS7. So there we were in the middle of nowhere trying to get a hold of service. Now I’ve been to the middle of nowhere NH and the northern (welcome to Canada) middle of nowhere Maine, but this rally is 100 miles from nowhere, no cell towers, no coverage, middle of NOWHERE, I hope you brought spares.

On top of that, the organizers use a mix of amateur radio and GMRS service to communicate. That means your high power 2 meter rig can’t transmit on the frequencies of the repeater and your hand held TalkAbout is about 49.75 watts short of ‘making it.’ As for APRS, take a look at the APRS map for the area from our pals at aprs.fi. We’re well over 50 miles from a digipeater in rough terrain, I doubt that this rally will be able to be followed via the net. Even if our service crew picks up our packets there is little chance that any number of them will be relayed to the internet.

What I expect you’ll see is our tow out to Peach Springs, a few misc packets throughout the day, and our tow back. Far from the clarity of Prescott where you could tell where we were on stage by the minute. Although I’m disappointed in this, it will be a weekend of testing. So, if you have the time to take a look at our rally car tracking page over the weekend – we’d be interested in feedback.

Itinerary for the Laughlin International Rally 2007 Times are all PST
Tuesday – November 6th: Drive out from California to Laughlin, NV (12:00PM – 6:00PM)
Wednesday – November 7th: Reconnaissance (7:00AM – 6:00PM)
Thursday – November 8th : Reconnaissance (7:00AM – 6:00PM)
Friday – November 9th: Rally day one (9:00AM – 8:00PM)
Saturday – November 10th: Rally day two (8:00AM – 7:00PM)
Sunday – November 11th: Rally day three (superstage & rallycross) (10:00AM – 3:00PM)
Monday – November 12th: Drive home from Laughlin, NV to California (10:00AM – 5:00PM)

RALLYNOTES READY TO HAVE A BLAST AT LAUGHLIN!

Posted on by

Rallynotes.com Laughlin 2007This weekend, the 2007 Laughlin International Rally and Motorsports Festival will be the place to be for USRC rally action! Headquartered in Laughlin, Nevada, the rally uses roads throughout the amazing Hualapai Indian lands and even into the Grand Canyon for a three day exhausting event that will push the team to its limit. Team Rallynotes.com will be looking for a strong finish to secure a second place in the Production 2WD championship. They will also be competing for podium points in the CRS rallycross to be held Sunday along side the SuperStage at the Laughlin MotorZone Special Events Area.

Driver Kristopher Marciniak talks about his strategy for this event. “It’s going to be tough not to think about what happened last year. We pushed hard on Friday and got our best regional class result ever. We continued to push on Saturday and turned in some awesome times until a ‘blind crest into a ditch’ almost wiped us out. We limped back on Sunday to finish the event and had a fantastic time – but it was a struggle that took a lot out of us. It’s tough to prepare for something like that, but we’re going to push just as hard out of the gate and see where we stand. Having the ability to run recce` this year I think will make a huge difference.”

An essential part of this team is the service crew. No other rally is as tough on the crew as it is in Laughlin. With one hundred mile tow transits and remote service locations, having everyone sharp for when the car arrives is essential for the team’s success. Co-Driver Christine Marciniak explains: “Kris and I have experienced the International Rally from almost every angle possible – spectating, volunteering, and competing – so we know how exhausting just getting to the remote stages and service locations can be. We have a great volunteer crew that is experienced and focused. They know how important it is to be timely but not rushed, and we are so grateful to have friends willing to literally make the long haul towing us around.”

The crew and the car are ready to rally for this non-stop grueling three day event that will determine where they end up in the standings of a national championship, a regional championship, and rallycross championship! It’s going to be a blast!

RALLYNOTES.COM TEAM SLIDE INTO THE TOP TEN AT PRESCOTT!

Posted on by

Rallynotes.com at the 2007 Prescott RallyThis year’s 20th Annual Prescott Rally, held in beautiful Arizona was a fantastic event for the team. With a 10th place on the Friday regional event and a 10th place on the Saturday event, the team scored a 9th overall for the USRC National weekend, with a much needed 1st in Production 2WD. Setting a good pace on Friday and bumping it up on Saturday, Driver Kristopher Marciniak and Co-Driver Christine Marciniak set 8th fastest on SS6 in their Production Stock Dodge Rally Neon.

“There was a little bit of warm-up time needed on Friday. Christine and I haven’t been in the rally car in about six months, so we didn’t charge out of the gate like usual, but everything about the car was working well and we were 100% on Saturday morning. I gave the service crew plenty of time to watch us on the computer,” said Kris. The crew utilized their new APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) to keep tabs on the rally car all weekend. This system also allows fans and friends alike to watch the rally on the web from anywhere. It tracks location, speed, direction, and altitude. Check it out at: rallynotes.com/rallycar-tracking/

On Saturday the team encountered its only minor mechanical issue during the event. The inner front pads had begun to wear to metal. Fresh brake pads were procured and installed with time to spare during the evening service. The Bilstein suspension worked effortlessly all weekend and the team is looking forward to a set of RumbleSoft Racing machined housings for its next event – The Laughlin International Rally in Nevada.

The dedicated service crew was made up of volunteers who trekked all the way from Southern California for the event: Judd Barber (Team Manager), Harry Bushling (Crew Chief), Kevin Patterson, and Dan Green made up the group. The team would like to extend a special thanks to Kevin Patterson for the use of his vehicle for reconnaissance on Thursday.

Everything is building up to the final round of the USRC in Laughlin Nevada. With its fast roads and even faster national competitors the Rallynotes.com team will be pushing for a class win!