[slickfast]

Hey all!

I'm a recently graduated 23 year old hooligan. Just discovered the TDI world while in search of a cheap, efficient machine for my month long road trip I'm getting ready for. Can't wait.

I come from the world of rallying, BMWs, flying (licensed pilot), and aeronautical engineering (major and profession). I'm looking forward to getting into this TDI thing with you guys!

Also, I have a long, drawn out car history for you to check out if you're interested.

See you around the forum!

-Colin

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Welcome, that was a nice Subie, what kind of races have you been in?

 

[slickfast]

Welcome, that was a nice Subie, what kind of races have you been in?

Thanks! Haha yeah, that's my beater. It's a fun car in the snow and dirt. She's always dirty! I don't think I've ever washed it.

Mostly just rallycross racing, though I've done autocross. It's just like autocross, except we do it over everything that isn't tarmac. It's cheap, simple fun for people that can't afford stage rally. Here's the old girl doing her best:

I'd love to do stage rally, but it's prohibitively expensive at the moment. If you're not acquainted, stage rally (I've volunteered as a mechanic for a few teams) is where you race against the clock to get the fastest time through a stage of road/trail. It's definitely more exciting, however the equipment expenses are definitely much higher. The car must be caged, fitted with tons of safety components, racing suspension, racing seats, the whole kit. Someday. Here's a few stage rally cars I worked on during the New England Forest Rally in 2010 (I think it ended up being around 4 cars for me and 2 other guys... we had our hands full!)
The car I KNEW I was going to be supporting:

Chris Duplessis' old rally car, now owned by someone else (Yes that is a blown tranny we swapped in about 2 hours):

And then the Audi:

And although I wasn't able to grab pictures, I help support a 2004 Subie STi. Actually, driving the team owner's Sprinter van was my first experience driving a turbodiesel!. That thing got up and went, even with 2 drums of 110 octane race fuel and about 16 tire/wheels sitting in the back!:eek

I could talk about rally all day, if you can't tell.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

So you've worked on a car before

 

[slickfast]

So you've worked on a car before

Naaah, I'm a newb (still feel like one anyways)!

 

[seanr]

Cool cars. Hover car activate!

 

[cowboyrx]

Nice pictures. That is a serious project you have going.

 

[slickfast]

Cool cars. Hover car activate!

haha thanks! I always thought it sort of looked like that.

Nice pictures. That is a serious project you have going.

Thanks! Which one, the GTI in the pictures? Or my road trip mobile? Yeah the road trip car is quite a project. I'm spending all my time on it... hopefully I can get everything done in time for our target departure date of June 15!

 

[Seatman]

I had an audi like the one in the pic, it was just the 1.8 though but I should've kept it and stuck my tdi in it as it was a quattro.

 

[slickfast]

I had an audi like the one in the pic, it was just the 1.8 though but I should've kept it and stuck my tdi in it as it was a quattro.

jaw drops that is an amazing idea! You totally should have! My buddy in rallycross (stock AWD class) has an older Audi that sounds so nice when it's going at it! Weird engine bay setup though (side by side, Audi? Really?)

 

[slickfast]

Btw I just want to reiterate that I'm still looking for my dream DD (non racing) car. It has the following:

-GOOD mileage (40 mpg or better) and therefore turbodiesel at the moment
-AWD so I can drive it through the winter.
-Manual transmission.
-FUN to drive.
-Hatchback or wagon (I'm also a competitive cyclist so throwing a bike in trunk > putting a rack on all the time)
-Comfy but supportive seats
-Good stereo
-Good headlights

What do you guys think? I can't think of anything that's really solved this, at least in the US. I'm hoping they put a quattro drivetrain on the A3 TDI soon with a manual tranny... if they did that, I would buy it new and keep it till I died.

 

[slickfast]

MAJOR QUESTION: I was locking everything up (all the locks are in right now), and found something that worried me. I set the cams to horizontal, turned the crank to TDC, tried to put the cam lock tool in... and it wouldn't go in. Instead, the cam lock goes in when the mark on the flywheel is a good 3/8" forward of the mark on the casing. Is this normal? The ignition pump pin goes in just fine. I'm afraid to take the timing belt off with it like this. The confusing part about this is that I got 45 mpg on the way back from the guy's house with it, so I don't think the timing belt jumped a tooth. What's going on here? All the locks are in right now, it just doesn't show TDC on the flywheel.