Rock'n Raceco Redux

[bajaxp]

Well someone had to have my beloved Beer Hauler more than me. So after delivering the old girl to its new owner in Phoenix and having the guy who built it completely go over it...it is gone. Very sad. The Beer Hauler was a very cool Class 8, and I am hoping to see it in the dez soon at NORRA and/or the Mint.

Now the NEW stuff. I struck up a conversation with a guy in Saskatoon Canada who had a complete Raceco for sale. How does a CL10 Raceco end up in frozen central Canada? No clue.

So to not bore everyone with all of the particulars, I bought it. Ok, I lied...I will bore you with the fact that the guy drove 14 hours from Saskatoon in a rented truck to meet me in Rexburg Idaho. It didn't run worth a chit during my 'demo' drive, but I wanted the Raceco and really didn't want to be a dique. Rexburg is exactly 14 hours from my place in So Cal. Minor drama getting it home, but it made it.

At first I was thinking of racing it as it was. Toyota 22r engine, bus box, 14 shocks, etc. But...I couldn't. It just wasn't me and as much as I love the Raceco, I need to update it to make it mine. So the journey begins.

Follow along if you are interested.

 

[CMA GUMBY]

Can't wait... Will be following.

 

[NIKAL]

Very cool! How much updating are you planning on doing? Will it be for play, NORRA or both?

 

[bajaxp]

For NORRA and maybe the odd MORE and/or BITD race.
Repower, real transaxle, stronger axles/CV's, new radiator. Doing this with all with the NORRA Challenger class rules in mind.

 

[LantanaTX]

Very nice car! I hope to see it at NORRA. It looks like the Beer Hauler is registered for NORRA.

 

[Rigid Industries]

good clean start Matt...
can't wait to see it done.

 

[bajaxp]

I found this pic of Steve Sourapas's (sp?) Silver Bullet Raceco. Anybody have a color pic of this car? It would be a cool paint scheme.

 

[La Tijereta]

I found this pic of Steve Sourapas's (sp?) Silver Bullet Raceco. Anybody have a color pic of this car? It would be a cool paint scheme.

I know where that image came from, and have various images of the car with the "Coors Light" scheme from those years.. Send me a PM

 

[bajaxp]

PM sent!

 

[Bro_Gill]

Steve had a 2 seater as well. I think that may be what they won the 1000 with when they won overall. It was painted the same. HotVWs has a full feature. I may be able to scan and send it for you.

 

[Bro_Gill]

Here you go!

 

[bajaxp]

Perfect! Thanks Gil
I think I am going with a black frame, but a modified version of the Sourapas car would look great. Things that make you go 'Hmmmmm.'

 

[bajaxp]

I have been thrashing getting the Raceco stripped down. It has been like a archaeological dig; I am finding layers of race, rebuild, change, etc. Sort of fun, in a 'what's in Grandma's closet' sort of way. The electrical was scary. Very vintage with glass fuses...added to, pig-tailed off of, then spliced. Whoa! #kablamo. I was very happy when that rats nest ended up in the dumpster.

Fuel cell looks good and the guys at Harmon have agreed to service it for me, even though it is a Fuel Safe. Viva Harmon! Fingers crossed that it is ok.

I think I can salvage the seats, but they might need some love.

As you can see from the pics, I am slowly tearing it down to the frame.

The old engine, the 22r coming out and another pic with it sitting next to the engine that will go in. I will be selling a ton of parts on RDC and Craigslist over the next month. Engine, bus box, Jamar shifter, 10 FOX shocks, etc.

Now getting ready for the fab work then looking forward to building it back up. So far it has been fun. The last picture is in the spirit of 'transparency.' Haha

 

[LantanaTX]

Very cool buggy! thanks for posting.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[offroadracer516]

Love ours. She's still running up front in 1600. Looking forward to seeing your build.

 

[bajaxp]

Lots happening but nothing super interesting to report. I have been spending copious amounts of time cutting unused or unnecessary bracket and tubes off the old Raceco and having the fun of grinding the welds off. Ugg.
The fuel cell is at Harmon for an inspection and a cleaning. Hoping for a clean bill of health on the bladder.
I just ordered a new transaxle from Weddle and we are working on getting some mock up cases so we can start building the engine/trans mounts. The wheels are ordered and we have a good plan for shocks.
The original rear body panels were gone, so I am mocking up some new ones in the spirit of what was on it when it was built.
I cut off the Frankenstein front bumper and the plan is to do a traditional Raceco two bar style bumper with the logo between the two bars (thanks Jared for the water-jet original emblem). Thinking of eliminating the top light bar and going with two lights in the mirror mounts and two lights in the front shock towers as per original, plus perhaps a 'secret weapon' in the front bumper skid.

 

[Rory]

Any way to take 8-10" off the overall length in the rear? That thing looks like a looooong bed truck! Hahahaha.

 

[bajaxp]

Haha...built to haul sacks of manure or perhaps to mount a 5th wheel hitch to tow the stacker. I asked Jaime and he said that he believes it was built that way originally, as the air cooled cars had a shorter wider back end and the water pumpers were longer and narrower. But you and Jaime know way more about Racecos than I do. I am going to leave it and just fix the front end. I am having fun with this thing. Viva buddy dorks!

 

[Ol' Curmudgeon]

Put an inline six in it.

 

[bajaxp]

Put an inline six in it.

You must mean an inline six. A V6 would be shorter than the four we are putting in it. Haha We ARE putting a 5 speed in it which is quite a bit longer than the bus box that came out. So in order to fit the new transaxle and eliminate the compound CV angle, we will mount the engine slightly further back than the old 22r was. So there won't be that much space between the accessories and the back of the cage. But we will still have the option to haul hay bales if we want.