Glen Strightiff/Chris Wilson C3 build

[PaulW]

First pics are on the trailer. Then in the line on the way to contingency
The black on black driver names did no com out so a little yellow spray makes them barely readable.
Still missing PCI and SCORE stickers

[ChaseTruck754]

I notice an 8 number vs. a 3. I always thought this thing was being built to run class 3. Was the class 8 running by choice or was there squacking and you guys were forced to run 8?

[PaulW]

SCORE tech guys said new C3 rule would allow miss matched body/chassis. C3 rules were never changed. That left C8 and the only choice.
Go to class3racing.com and read what Chris said. I don't think there was anybody complaining about such a new C3 rule.

[Smart Alex]

Nice work. Just saw this. Pretty awesome. I don't know if you said but what car did the headlight bezels come off of?

[philofab]

Bezels / headlight doors looks like Kenworth A Model stuff.

[Silverslk]

Nice work. Just saw this. Pretty awesome. I don't know if you said but what car did the headlight bezels come off of?

Bezels / headlight doors looks like Kenworth A Model stuff.

From page 9

For headlight bezels, we ordered some chrome plastic reproductions of a 60's era Peterbuilt

[yikes]

Some RDC love for the coolest new race Bronco out there.

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showth ... -the-story

[Prizefighter]

Oh cool, I saw this truck leave off the line! They were talking about it on ClassicBroncos.com but didn't know someone had a build thread on it.

[baja-chris]

Well SCORE changed the Class 3 body rule to allow for modified bodies so we are now in Class 3 where we belong. We are entered in the San Felipe 250 along with Moss Bros. I hope there are more entries but if not, we still have to beat both Baja and Moss so that is plenty of challenge.

The leaf springs we ran at the 1000 turned out to be too light of a rate, we had only guessed when we ordered them mid-build. Now that we have a complete truck we were able to weigh it. National Spring is making new leaf springs that will hold up the rear of our tank. We ended up at 6400 lbs with drivers and fuel. All steel body, iron 205 transfer case, OEM 4wd parts, 80-gal fuel cell, etc. It all adds up and we are 1000 lbs heavier than we had hoped for. Should of used thinner aluminum for that big wing!

We fixed the issue we had with the front end (the upper ball joint cup was loose and tore out of the beam at the 1000) and addressed other new car blues issues. Upgraded the size of the alternator for example. We have also fit all new FOX Shocks. 4.0" 5-tube bypasses plus 2.5 coilover (without coils) plus 2.0 air bumps for the rear. 3.5" 5-tube bypasses plus 2.5" coilovers plus 2.0 air bumps up front. We are using the AGM coil spring dividers/sliders on the front coilovers. We plan to continue to spring the rear only with leafs. The rear coilover is just used as another shock. Both FOX and National Spring have been great to work with so far. Here are a few pics of the new shocks. The front mounts are not quite done in these pics. We should be mounting our new leafs this weekend and testing next week.

[cs_drums]

Looking good! Glad you are able to get in to class 3 now.

[Rmc]

X2

[BDKW1]

Nice! You realize those new shocks added over 100#'s. Did you figure that into the new spring rate?

[baja-chris]

Nice! You realize those new shocks added over 100#'s. Did you figure that into the new spring rate?

It's ok, we filled them with light oil and helium instead of nitrogen. And if that does not do it, then we invert the wing to lighten her up.

I think it was Walker Evans who once said he never saw a truck broke down on the side of the track because it was built too strong or too heavy.

[retroblazer]

So what is the new rule concerning bodies?

[baja-chris]

Modified bodies now allowed. Class 3 body rule reads like class 8 body rule.
Still have to have stock dimension from spindle to B-pillar. Details are posted on SCORE site.

I think this rule opens it up for the jeep unibody guys. The 93-2011 V8 grand cherokee (106" wheelbase) might be the hot ticket now, with coilovers on all 4 corners, can stretch wheelbase to the 108" limit, and V8 power. The new body rule should let them fit 37's with a unibody.

[cs_drums]

That sounds awesome. Hopefully it generates more interest in the class.

[Wrightracing.net]

It would be cool to see a revival in class 3.

[Wrightracing.net]

Chris and the Bronco spotted in San Felipe. [attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1393685386539.jpg[/attachment]

[baja-chris]

The new National Springs and Fox shocks worked excellent. It was fast in the whoops and worked great.
Still a few small new car issues to work on. The brake pedal would go to the floor and we had to pump it up.
Once pumped it was firm and stopped. We do not have residual valves and think the caliper pistons are walking away from the disks.
Will try adding some residual valves. Steering is high effort at low rpm, need a pump upgrade.
Broke the radio ant very early in race, going to switch to a short quarter wave and move it to cage at rear of truck.

Race went well. Caught and passed Moss about RM 6 or 7 then passed about 15 cars in other classes, entire 5-1600 field, some 1-1600 some mini trucks etc. Was not pushing it as hard as it would go except to take advantage of some passing opportunities.
After the course turned north at RM 30 we thought we had a nice lead and took it easy as we were worried about breaking leafs.
One of the 1-1600 cars passed us back but we caught some more mini trucks. On the lakebed we initially ran it up to 102 mph.
It felt like it would of pulled to about 105. A year ago without the wing and hood I ran it up to 115 in this same spot.
Oh well, it's better to look good with the wing than to maximize speed! I backed it down to 95 for the rest of the lake bed.
Just tried to be nice to the crate 427 crate engine. Passed something that looked like an ultra 4, not sure what it was.
After the lakebed, my left leg was cramping up bad from pumping up the brakes before we needed them.
And being too fat for my driving suit did not help, it was hard to move my leg. I was worried about the high speed Mikes loop.
so I called Glen and did the driver change before the Mikes loop instead of after. Turned out that loop was a wet mess.

Glen said it was slick and very wet and muddy. He stalled the engine once in a big water hole.
On the way down, he went off at Walkers Corner and rolled it down into the ravine. Munched the wing and body.
While upside down the wing scooped up huge amounts of mud and shoveled it into the cab then it flipped again and landed on it's tires.
They had so much mud on them and in the cab that they could not find the intercom and had to dig mud away to find it.
With 4wd and low range they were able to drive it back up to the race course. Took some doing and about half and hour.
They said Moss waived as they passed. While they were trying to get out, 3 other cars went over and one almost hit them.
They finally got it out, 1st gear low range, WOT and as it crested the top with front tire in the air, it broke the front axle when it landed.
Back in the car and next problem is one of the rear steel fenders was rubbing hard on the tire. It took them another 15 minutes to fix.
They could not bend it away and had to get out the tools and unbolt it which is fairly involved. Someone got a souvenir.
We met Glen down on the highway and gave them some clean towels, gloves, and tried to unlock a stuck hub without success.
The lights were undamaged but aimed too low now that the fuel load had burned down. We estimate we were now 45 down on Moss.
But truck was working good and was still a whoop eating monster of a bronco so Glen put the hammer down with nothing to loose.
The body and wing were already trashed so it was crash or win time in the last 40 miles. Glen passed for the win with 10 to go.
Man do we have a lot of work to do. That wing has a hundred hours into it. But we will rebuild it, gotta look cool after all.

[baja-chris]

BTW, after the race, the National Springs still look great, zero issues and I'm sure they could go do another race right now.

We really owe a big thanks to both National Spring and Fox shocks. We have totally transformed this truck since the 1000 with their help.