Left the Boxsters at Home...

[78F350]

This weekend we left the Boxsters at home and had some off road fun with the Beetle and one of my bikes (Yamaha XT 225).

[ike84]

I've never seen a beetle with a snorkel before!

[78F350]

Originally Posted by ike84

I've never seen a beetle with a snorkel before!

The snorkel worked well. Engine kept running fine. I think that these transmissions weren't designed to run for extended periods under water though.



...and the 2,500lb Harbor Freight winches will not pull a 3,000 lb car out of a mud pit.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by 78F350

The snorkel worked well. Engine kept running fine. I think that these transmissions weren't designed to run for extended periods under water though.



...and the 2,500lb Harbor Freight winches will not pull a 3,000 lb car out of a mud pit.

They will if you have a snatch block or two and enough cable.
With two blocks you could lift or move 5000lbs. with a 2500lb. winch.

[ike84]

sad panda....

youre gonna have a hell of a time getting that radiator back to working condition lol. maybe dawn?

[itsnotanova]

Looks fun. HooptieX is having an event at Redneck Off-road Heaven park in Ardmore,OK on Sept 18-19. My friend and I will be there with our boxsters and another friend with his Beetle that's set up like yours. Rick said he was going to meet me there too.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Looks fun. HooptieX is having an event at Redneck Off-road Heaven park in Ardmore,OK on Sept 18-19. My friend and I will be there with our boxsters and another friend with his Beetle that's set up like yours. Rick said he was going to meet me there too.

Wow, I heard about that event months ago, but had other commitments that weekend. Now suddenly my schedule may be open. The Dung Beetle probably needs a roll cage to be legal, but that's doable. The automatic transmission is failing, but a HootieX would be a good way to finish it off if it stays in gear. ...or maybe run another car. :dance:

[itsnotanova]

I can't speak for HooptieX officials but the guy running the event is pretty relaxed about the rules. Pretty much have a helmet and you're good to go. Maybe weld some bars from the A pillars to the back and call it a day? Doesn't have to be pretty or even completely functional. Just enough to pass tech? It's being held at a large park. Even if it fails tech, you can still go dink around and have fun

[78F350]

Tentatively planning to arrive there Saturday afternoon to spend the night and run on the track on Sunday.
This car still runs well, but over pressurizes the cooling system. I'm going to dump some "K-Seal Ultimate Head Gasket Repair" in there and see if it fixes it well enough to get me around the track a few times. I have a factory hard top on the car right now and that meets the rules.


This is about fun and not looking to compete, but what is your tire advice for this? I currently have 17" wheels and TW 100 tires on it.

[itsnotanova]

Awesome. Re-71's are the tire of choice among the fast crowd. Anything with a very soft compound does well. I run Hoosier racing rain tires myself.

[78F350]

The head gasket sealer seems to be working. I got it mostly street legal (Oklahoma is easy) on Friday afternoon. The cooling system pressure seems a bit high, but it's not purging coolant. I put some fresh gas in since it was about empty of the 2019 gas that was left in it.


I'll drive it minimally over the next two weeks, but enough to sort it out and have it ready. Hopefully it holds together and waits to die a proper death at the event.

My local Gambler 500 group has a very different perspective on the HooptieX than the RallyCross guys. I'm still deciding which way I want to go with this car.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by 78F350

The head gasket sealer seems to be working. I got it mostly street legal (Oklahoma is easy) on Friday afternoon. The cooling system pressure seems a bit high, but it's not purging coolant. I put some fresh gas in since it was about empty of the 2019 gas that was left in it.





I'll drive it minimally over the next two weeks, but enough to sort it out and have it ready. Hopefully it holds together and waits to die a proper death at the event.



My local Gambler 500 group has a very different perspective on the HooptieX than the RallyCross guys. I'm still deciding which way I want to go with this car.

Very off topic here but how'd you do the louvers in the frunk?

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[78F350]

Originally Posted by ike84

Very off topic here but how'd you do the louvers in the frunk?

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Just drilled with a step drill, cut and bent them.


This car just has a single radiator - front and center. I had a Toyota radiator for a while, but the single Boxster radiator with a manual switch did fine for 1/4 mile and runs through an autocross course. It's not an endurance car and the AC system is completely removed.

[ike84]

I saw similar reproduction wheels when I was looking recently. I really wanted to find some fat ass 15s that I could throw some 26" tires on but I only found the super narrow version. The look is great though

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[78F350]

Woody, I'm really looking forward to seeing you in person after all these years. I'm still unsure about the engine in this car, but I'll be there with something arriving Saturday afternoon and just booked a motel in Ardmore. I may have to make time next year to get into RallyCross. It looks like a lot of fun.

Ike, I just had some 235/75/15s mounted on them. That's about 29". I won't have time to see how far they are from fitting anything for a day or two, but I have a big hammer and a recip saw. Everything fits eventually. They are planned for my winter project 914, but I am curious if they can work on a 986 without major suspension modification. Pics when I give it a try.

[ike84]

If you have coilovers you may be able to Max out the ride hide and make em fit. Don't hit any bumps though lol. I can't wait to see those pics.

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[itsnotanova]

Any updates?

[78F350]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Any updates?

Just getting back to work on the Fiero now. In late November, I admitted to myself that my garage was so full of crap that I couldn't work in there anymore. I needed less stuff and not more space. I spent about a month sorting through junk and not junk, did a couple scrap runs and trash runs. I got rid of a couple 'future projects'. I finally have floor space and can find my tools again.

It was bad:


It is still evolving, but working on better habits and improving every day:


The Fiero is getting a full transplant. I got a wrecked Buick Rendezvous ($300 Copart bid) with a good 3.5L LX9 engine. Stock it has about 200 hp and leaves room in the budget for my nitrous system for the drag race in the GRM $2,000 Challenge.



I plan to put the LX9 in the car next week for an initial fitting. Not a popular swap, but it has been done before a few times. For now I'm staying with the auto transmission and ECU from the Buick.

[78F350]

I did a quick check on the rear wheel. With the car on the ground it didn't rub anywhere, but there was no space at the fender for travel. That would be a lot of fender to roll, but looking at what Truegearhead had done, I'm not scared to cut the 'excess fender' off.

[itsnotanova]

You're going to need to cut 4 inches to clear those tires. Smaller diameter tires will be a lot more fun as they're lighter and make the car quicker to accelerate. You'll have a harder time getting the rear end to swing out and just have a slower car with those tires. Generally the tracks here in this region pack down and are more like wet asphalt than muddy road. In my opinion those will be the worst tires for having fun or being fast.