sureshot007 Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 I don't post much, but I thought a few people might enjoy this. First I have to thank Bob (Wildman) for all his help. He has gone out of his way to get me the parts and assistance I needed to make this event happen. And Matt at United 4WD in Clarence, NY - also went above and beyond. We ran the Team O'Neil Regional Rally event this weekend in Dalton, NH. With the exception of not having any power, the truck did great! The lack of power comes from (or doesn't come from, as the case may be) the 2.5L engine I'm running. It just doesn't put out enough power do get going real fast. Other than that, it rained the entire time and had fun in the mud and rocks. It was funny to see all the other teams back at service fixing broken stuff, and when we pulled in, my whole crew just sat down and ate some lunch. We ended up 3rd in class. Turns out if we didn't stop to pull a subaru out of a ditch, we would have been second. We all had a great time. Our next event is the Susquahanook Trail Performance Rally (http://www.stpr.org) in Wellsboro, PA on June 4th and 5th. Anyone in the area should stop by, check things out, and say hi! Photos of the event are here: http://www.onalimbracing.com/photos/201 ... eil_Rally/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-600JeepMJ Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 :eek: that is one way to give a jeep a mud bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_bad_MJ Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 GET IT!!!! NICE bob wild is cool nice guy i drove up to get my BA-10 from him hes got alot of Comanches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlubber Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I became a fan on facebook. cool stuff, looks like a lots of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 A little update: This past weekend was the Susquahanook Trail Performance Rally (stpr.org). We had a solid performance with no real problems - bent a wheel but was able to continue to service on it, and the idle stepper motor decided to rattle apart and stick at 4500 rpms (was able to remove it in a few minutes between stages). We would have had a 3rd place finish in class, but some penalties we picked up for speeding between stages added 12 minutes to our overall time and dropped us back to 5th. This puts us in a tricky spot, as we'll need a very good performance at the next event (newenglandforestrally.com) in order to have a chance at the Eastern Regional Championship title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquaro Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 YeeHaw :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 :banana: Looks like I might need to build one of my own someday. :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'll help you set it up if you help me find a short bed shell for CHEAP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'll help you set it up if you help me find a short bed shell for CHEAP I have one. In IL, '92 black shortbed. No running gear or harnesses. Minimal rust, but lot's o dents. Be a rolling chassis. 3.07's. PM me if interested. Cheap. Rob L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakineJ Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 ...We would have had a 3rd place finish in class, but some penalties we picked up for speeding between stages added 12 minutes to our overall time and dropped us back to 5th... Comanche's just want to go fast, haha. Glad to see your over here at CC, sound's like your team is putting on a good campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 Comanche's just want to go fast, haha. Glad to see your over here at CC, sound's like your team is putting on a good campaign. We are certainly trying...one corner at a time :) EDIT: video was removed :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Have you done anything at all performance wise to the 2.5? Just curious as I'm planning in my head a performance 2.5 build. Id like to know what they did to the 2.5 SCCA Comanches too to make them go fast. I wonder if I could take a Clifford performance 6 cyl sidedraft intake and cut it down for a 4 cyl and then either add port fuel inj and sidedraft throttle bodies, or a couple of sidedraft carbs. Clifford does make a 4bbl intake for the 2.5 that you can add a 390 cfm carb to or a custom TBI setup. Several companies make headers, but Ive only found one place that lists a performance cam, and according to their website, they are closed till next year or something. I'm not sure what youre allowed to do within the rules of your competition, but I'm curious to find out. Good luck with the Championship... we're pullin for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 We haven't done much to it other than the usual intake/exhaust. There isn't much out there for 2.5 in the ways of performance. That's why we have a sneaky new motor in the works. Even if cam it, bore it out to take bigger pistons, raise the compression - you *might* be close to 200hp at the crank...maybe. But you still have the general downfall of these motors - they weigh a ton! Plus, the flywheel is 30+ lbs with no way to make it lighter (thanks to the crank sensor trigger ring). With all the rotational mass, the engine will never be revv happy, and it's 5500 rpm redline is a killer too. So in the end, you will have spend $1500+ on trying to make your comanche have a 15lb/hp ratio, when you can start with a different motor and have much better odds. However, if you are stuck like we are (our class displacement max is 3L), then you have to get creative. What are your class rules? Maybe I can share some of our sneaky plans with you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I'm not in any kind of racing or class, just like to see what I can do with a 2.5. And by all means please share sneaky plans, PM to me if you don't want them out. Your plans wouldnt be the MOPAR midget racing 4cyl block would it.... that would be cool too. If youre not familiar, I THINK its basically an aluminum 5.2 or a 5.7 block with 4 cylinders cut off, and a choice of heads. Theres a turbo version of this in MOPAR magazine thats putting out 1200HP and 760lb-ft of torque in a streamlined speed record car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 Racing is expensive. If you aren't already poor, you will be. And as such, I can't afford any fancy "race" motors. If I could, I'd have a Super Duty aluminum motor put together by KRP. There are people making tons of power in race applications - but I don't have $10k for a motor. So what's the next best alternative? Find a motor that has the largest displacement that you can have, and the most aftermarket parts support, and preferably plentiful in junkyards.... Enter the GM 2.8L v6 And that's all I going to say until I'm ready to unveil it ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Suprising? YES! Might be better if you could destroke a 3.1 or a 3.4 due to the 2.8's obvious design flaws in the oiling system and the external balance. Maybe a 2.8 crank in one of the other motors.... might even get you closer to 3.0 that way too. Youd have to do some research though. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 The research has been done. External balance was on the truck motors...not the camaro motors. And the "bad" design was with the small crank journals, so the blocks with the large crank journals solved those issues. I'm not going to bother with the crank swapping hybrid 3.1/2.8 because I'm not going to be a guinea pig with my race car. It costs a lot to run these events and it means more to me to finish than to win. Besides, this motor is only a stop gap solution until I find the donor shortbed MJ...and then the v8 magic will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted July 19, 2010 Author Share Posted July 19, 2010 NOTE - I wrote this writeup for a forum where people are familiar with this event. If you'd like me to explain anything about it, please feel free to ask! My first time to Maine, and I wanted to make it a memorable trip, one way or another. I just didn't think it was going to end the way it did. We left Buffalo Wednesday evening, drove through the night, and arrived at the Sunday River Ski Resort just outside of Bethel, ME at about 6:30am. Recce started at 7am, so we signed the waiver and got in line with the other cars. Drove recce until about 6pm, and at this point, we were all ready to pass out. Got some grub, got some sleep, and then off to Parc Expose in the morning. There were 65 entries for the event, so it was awesome to see a bunch of cars in the lot. A lot of people commented on the truck, and there was even one random guy with a THR shirt on that he bought at STPR! There were the usual suspects - Block, Pastrana, ACP, L'Estage, Bacon (mmm...bacon...), Duplessis, Van Way...and a few guys came out of the woodwork, like O'Sullivan (who kicked some serious @$$ out there). But the highlight for me was finally meeting Mad Mike! Anywho, the event started with 3 super specials - 1 at the ski resort, and 1 run twice at the Mexico Service area (which included the Red Bull jump). It would have been nice to be able to get the speed for that jump, but they didn't have a runway handy for us. I think we may have bent the front axle a little bit again on the jumps though. After a service stop, off to Stages 4 and 5 - 9 miles and 16 miles long. Finally, the event can start! SS4 was more uphill, so our average speed was a bit low and our time suffered. The bridge crossings are interesting, as they only have 2 pieces of board for your wheels and you have to hit it straight or you slide off and nail a decent sized bump (which claimed the tie rod on Jim McLeland's MR2). I found out the hard way that the bump doesn't effect Jeeps the same way :) We get to the end, turn around, and now it's mostly downhill, with and added 7 miles of alternating rights and lefts that are flat out (5+s and 6+s the whole way). I was at redline for a good portion of it...which is probably what lead to the smoke coming from the hood at the finish of that stage. No biggie, we have service next, so we'll just limp it back and see what we can do. A couple miles down the road, we see a car off to the side, so we stop to help. Kristen Przybycz blew a wheels cylinder and rear top hat, so I let her have my bottle of brake fluid, and vice grips to clamp off the brake line. She was able to limp back to service, but when we turned to look at the truck, it was bone dry on coolant. I tried to let it cool and add water, but after 10 minutes, it was boiling right out the side the head. So we wait for a guy that is willing to pull us back, but we are already out of time, so we go straight back to the hotel, and have the crew meet us there with a new head gasket. Spent until 3am swapping the head gasket fixing the exhaust, and water pump. Wanting to give the RTV as much time to cure as possible, we tow it to the start the next morning, and wait until 15 minutes before our out time to fill it with water. Turn the key, and the engine sounds like it is about to explode. Overheated it to the point of toasting the rod bearings. So that's all she wrote. Judging by our previous performances against others in G2, and the times we started running on Friday, it could have been a tight fight for a podium finish for us. I need to thank Jesse for putting up with Lee and I, with all our bad ideas, and breaking $#!& non-stop. I would also like to thank Pat and Christian for their help with service. They really pitched in when push came to shove. Thanks to SwerveMotorsports.com for take care of us and being able to mount rally tires (when most other shops would tell us to leave because they are too difficult to deal with). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 :thumbsup: :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kastein Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Already line up a new engine for it? Or are you rebuilding the current one? Think you just need to throw new bearings in it, or will the crank/rods require machine work? If it's a rebuildable motor and you don't feel like spending time on it, I have a 2.5 out of a '90 RENIX in driveable condition that I'll swap you for. Only fault I know of on it is that the rearmost exhaust manifold stud is torqued off in the block, came out of a friend's old daily driver (did 97mph on the highway just fine with no complaints) after he sold it to another friend to turn into a rock crawler rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 We ended up 3rd in class. Turns out if we didn't stop to pull a subaru out of a ditch, we would have been second. We all had a great time. I know I'm the weirdo in the crowd but I've always believed having fun, and doing what you feel is the right thing, is more important than winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I know I'm the weirdo in the crowd but I've always believed having fun, and doing what you feel is the right thing, is more important than winning. amen. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 I'm petitioning right now for a waiver to get my open class license so I can drop this 5.2 in that I have in my garage. We'll see what they say. I also have another full 2.5 in the garage as well as enough parts to build a 2.8 v6. I am sitting here eagerly awaiting their reply :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlubber Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 A friend of mine went up to maine, he took some cool pictures. He knows I drive a comanche so he tagged me in one of them so I'd see, cool stuff. sorry about your engine troubles, hope you guys had fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot007 Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Here's a little something I threw together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofRB-ozWA6c I'm hoping that Wildman will help me get everything squared away for next season, and maybe we can start winning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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