The whole reason I got into Galants was because I bought [195] for the sole purpose of turning it into a rally car. It came with a seized engine. We replaced it. The replacement engine blew up. We rebuilt it.  I signed up and paid for the Ridgecrest Rally School and rallycross (rallyx), only to have some retard run a red light in front of me a month prior, as I was on my way to pick up a replacement front CV axle which was the last repair needed before racing the car.

[195] was totaled. The following summer, I got plenty of help from friends cutting the mangled front end off and replacing it with parts from a FWD Galant found up in Prescott.  The new front end was welded on, if not welded on as solidly as I would like (for competition anyway).  The factory intercooler was crushed by the front bumper, so I sourced a Dodge SRT4 front mount intercooler to replace it.  That was cobbled into place with mismatched plumbing and bits of PVC from the sprinkler aisle at Home Depot to make sure it worked.

I recently got a new job and the future looks promising, so I drove down to Precision Chassis Works in Gilbert, Arizona to talk to Kent Porter (the owner) about finally getting a roll cage installed for rally. To have Precision Chassis Works build and install the cage to Rally America specifications, complete the front end repairs, and plumb the FMIC was going to set me back an easy $3000.  A fair price, given the amount of welding required and Kent’s reputation for fabrication bordering on art.  (And really, when it comes to safety, is that anywhere to skimp on a build?)

Then it hit me.  I really want to enter the Prescott Rally next fall. That would mean $3000 cage and repairs for sure, but also two race seats, race harnesses, a helmet, a complete brake job, auxiliary lighting, skid plates, a tripmeter (rally computer for the co-driver for those outside the loop), mud flaps, a set of rally tires, and a HANS rental.  All before I paid the likely $750 entry fee, towed the car up the hill, paid for three nights’ hotel room, food, gas, and any expenses I’d obviously comp for my service crew volunteers.  I could easily spend $10,000 just getting to the starting line. Odds are, there’d be some retard in a Kia out there in the boonies just waiting for me to round the bend at 80mph before deciding to cross the yellow tape.  I started waffling on my decision to go all out for rally.  I thought, maybe I should do some partial prep and see if I can’t get out there and drive the car in anger from time to time.  Out of the blue, Dan calls me up and asks if I want to go check out a NASA HPDE event at Phoenix International Raceway this past Sunday.  PERFECT TIMING, DAN.  It might cost upwards of $2000 to do a rally.  It looks like it’s less than $200 to do a full day of hot lapping on a road course. Hmmm…

So the full on rally car prep has been shelved in favor of a staged build which will allow me to get out and actually race the car. In fact, I’ve been thinking about Project: LAGR (“Let’s Actually Go Racing”) for a couple days now.  I’m excited, despite my general aversion to people talking about stage one this or stage four that.  Here’s how I’ve got things organized so far.  It might change a bit, but I’m still waiting on a detailed quote from Kent on some of this work.

STAGE I – Precision Chassis Works

- Front end repairs. The accident damage needs to be completely repaired.  Nuff said.
- FMIC piping. Now that I know the SRT4 FMIC will fit and work, I need it installed legitimately.

STAGE II

- Brakes and lines. Until you can run an entire race with lifting, you’ve got enough power.  That in mind, I’d like to be able to stop the car from higher speeds without wondering if the brakes are going to fail.  The pads and rotors on the car today are the ones that were on the car when I bought it back in 2005 (and it had been sitting outside in New Mexico for about two years before that).  I’m thinking slotted rotors, good pads, braided lines, and fresh fluid here.

STAGE III

- Helmet. That’s right.  Helmet.  With the front end repaired, the intercooler installed and plumbed, and a healthy brake system, I’d say it’s time to go racing.  I’m gonna need my own damn brain bucket.

STAGE IV – Precision Chassis Works

- 4 point roll cage. The trick here is to get the main hoop and rear supports installed.  Not because it’s required for HPDE, autox or rallyx, but so I can get a harness bar in the car.

STAGE V

- Seat(s). Not required for HPDE, autox, or rallyx, but it would sure beat slippery, 19 year old leather seats and automatic shoulder belts when the lateral Gs kick in.
- Harness(es). Not required for HPDE, autox, or rallyx, but the same reasons apply.  I’m not sure if HPDE requires both front seats/belts to be equivalent, but hope it’s okay if they aren’t.

STAGE VI

- Struts. [195] will be a rally car and, once it’s back on the road, I’m going to spend as much time as I can OFF the road.  Well, at least off the pavement.  For that reason, I refuse to lower the car at all.  If she rocks like a boat through tarmac corners, so be it.  The stock struts are likely blown or ready to blow at the first sign of stress.  A set of KYBs or Konis (or even Bilsteins) will be nice wherever the car runs.
- Tint. There’s no AC in the car anymore.  I fully intend to drive to Tucson and SoCal for autox or rallyx events during the year.  Tint helps keep the inside of the car cooler and also serves to keep Buddy Ricer on the street from spotting a roll cage and trying to race me every chance he gets.

STAGE VII

- Exhaust. I’ll go to Precision Chassis Works for this too.  3” from turbo to tailpipe.
- Injectors. Not sure what size yet.  Maybe 750cc.
- Fuel pump. Probably a Walbro, but not sure if 190lph or 255lph or even a Supra/Evo pump.

STAGE VIII

- Evo III 16G turbocharger. I figure, by this point, I’ll have a solid car with all the bugs worked out.  I’ll have a good amount of seat time from high speed road courses, technical tarmac autox, and wild rallyx events.  There will be random, let’s-see-where-that-dirt-road-goes trail runs too.  I’ll actually be comfortable driving in anger, so bumping the mill up from 200hp or so to over 300hp will be a welcome change and reward for seeing a plan through.

Before all this gets underway, I’m going to see about converting the car to speed density using DS-MAP on the EPROM ECU. Now that I’ve got the dashboard out of the car, I’m going to continue stripping the interior, but I’ll probably flock the dash before it goes back in.  I’ve also talked to AZDave about re-doing the lighting in the instrument cluster to be friendlier on the eyes after dark.  That project is already under way and a write up should follow before the end of the year.

During all these well thought out shenanigans, I’ll see about random projects like skid plates, mud flaps and paint. Little things that will allow me to keep the rally car flavor while moving towards the ultimate goal – a full-fledged stage rally car.

And after all this gearhead goodness, I’m going to start taking the car back to Precision Chassis Works for the rest of the cage. Maybe pull the dash again and get the front hoop installed and tied in to the front strut towers (which need reinforced).  Maybe follow that up with door and sill bars.  After that, I might decide I’d like to reinforce the lower control arms on the car to keep them from getting beat to hell when I do finally enter Prescott sometime in the year 2047.

So that, in an extremely long winded nutshell, is the new plan for [195]. What had been an immense money pit with an outcome somewhere in the foggy distant future has just turned into an opportunity for me to realistically go racing in my race car by my birthday… which is just five months away. I’ll keep you posted!