ECORS Race 1- we made it!!!

[broncosbybart]

Well, the past few days have been a whirlwind. It all started out at about 9pm Wednesday night when I decided to do a little Craigslist search for Broncos. On the Asheville site, I uncovered a 72 Bronco with the following description:

1972 Bronco. fresh drivetrain. 302 with a mild rebuild about 10k miles ago. NP435 4 speed from a newer f-150, rebuilt twin sticked dana 20 t-case, 9 inch with new bearings and mini spool. Dana 44 with fresh wheel bearings ball joints and disc brake conversion. powdercoated black wheels with almost new 35" pro comp mud terrains. custom prerunner front bumper and tire carrier rear bumper with full size spare. Full cage tied to frame with racing seats. Runs and drives great. Body is rough. 2800$ Could part out for more than this.



I quickly grabbed the phone and made the call. We talked a bit and arranged to meet at 3:30pm on Thursday to look at it. I went to bed that night dreaming of what I had found and the opportunity to make the race on Saturday.
Woke up early the next morning and cleaned up the garage to prepare for the frenzy that was soon to come. We (Clay, his friend Will, and I) hooked up the truck and trailer and headed out at 1:15pm. About in Hendersonville, I get a call from the seller saying he would be about an hour late and that one of his friends would meet us. At 3:30pm we arrived and parked the tow rig. We got out and peered through the dark windows into the dim garage to get our first glimpse of it. Will immediately commented that it looked a lot lighter in color than the picture showed. I assured him that it was the same one, based on what I saw.
We waited impatiently for about 20 minutes in the cold Asheville air before coming to the realization that the truck would be a lot warmer. So, we piled back in to wait some more. After an eternity of watching vehicles pass the driveway, one finally pulled in. He was the seller’s friend that was supposed to arrive when we did… He opened the garage and as soon as he did, the seller pulled up and introduced himself. We then looked it over from top to bottom.
The Bronco was shot! It had more fiberglass on it than metal. I was immediately greeted by a fiberglass splinter from the leading edge of the hood as I reached for the hood latch to open the hood. The roll cage welds were pretty nasty and the bumpers and twin sticks were “booty fabbed.” The racing seats were of the hard plastic variety and the floor of the bronco was full of pine needles, leaves, debris, and general trash. Despite having been it the garage, it was still wet from rain and had a plastic garbage bag over the driver’s side seat.
The good of it was that the 35" tires were in good shape, and it had a strong 302 in it with the 435 and a cast aluminum AA intermediate housing to mate the D20 t-case to it. It had a power steering setup on it, power brake booster, and a disc brake setup from a 79 on the D44, as well as a mini spool in the rear.
After paying for it, we loaded it up and I stressed that we get to the bank before they closed to notarize the title. It was then 4:45pm. We raced to the bank, going seemingly the same direction as the rush hour traffic and were greeted by every traffic light… We got there with 5 minutes to spare and got it done. We then walked across the parking lot and grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed home.

[broncosbybart]

The trip home was uneventful. We got home at 8pm and unloaded it. Pulled it in and started to tear it apart. We got about 8 bags full of trash out of it before we found what was left of the floor. From there, it was removing all the junk stuff and re-working the essentials. Brakes, engine, and axles were good. We did change the oil- that was about it there. The wiring was gone through and at least 50 ft of wire removed as well as 2 added fuse panels. The seats and belts were removed, as well as the rear swing away carrier as the bumper was straining under the weight of the tire. The hood, front bumper, and wheels were removed.

[broncosbybart]

We welded in new brackets for the seats and belts. By that time it was about 3:30am so we called it a ‘night.’ After a few hours of sleep, we were back at it at 7am on Friday. Our goal was to get there to pre-run the course before dark, so we got right back to it. No rest for the weary.







The Corbeau seats and 5 point harnesses went in. The entire windshield frame was cut off. A replacement hood was fitted and new hood pins installed. The homemade tube doors were removed as they were bungeed shut. This was a real pain, because the hinges were welded to the door posts. A big hammer, chisels, and cutting disc fixed that. After running through the bolts, we put the tires on it and got it ready to go back into the trailer. We hooked up the enclosed and crammed it full of tools and our supplies and finally a Bronco.
Our original goal was to leave at 11am, but ended up leaving around 2:30pm and getting there at about 4:30pm. Still enough day to get a lap or 2 in. We registered, unloaded, bolted the race wheels on, and suited up.

[broncosbybart]

The race was being held at The Flats, in Marion NC. I don’t know where this place got it’s name. There was nothing flat there. Even where we pitched the tent was not flat… We started the trail and were greeted by a narrow section that dropped off sharply on both sides, a kind of make shift dam for the pond on the one side. After that was a few mud holes, a hairpin left turn that we couldn’t swing, and a sharp incline. At the top of the first ledge, the truck stopped. It simply wouldn’t move. After about 5 minutes of frantic searching and pondering, I noticed that the ‘twin sticks’ weren’t quite in line with each other. We pulled and pushed, kicked, and shoved. The front finally worked free. It had popped out of hi range and found its way into low without our knowing as we went over the ledge. Wonderful…
We threw it back in hi range and gunned it up the next hill. It was blind at the top, so I backed off it and then followed the course tape, which lead right back down. The trip down was a ride. It was muddy and slick. I put the 435 in second gear (or first gear depending on how you refer to it) and started down it. About ¼ of the way down it got steep and had a huge rut on the right side. I steered a touch left and as I did, the rear axle immediately started sliding right. It was trying to engine brake us, but the open diff in the front axle could have cared less. The back end started gaining momentum, so I steered hard right for an eternity (6 turn steering box) and gunned it. Clay and I both knew if it got sideways, it would likely have been a long trip to the bottom, tumbling all the way. Thankfully we launched sideways but it began to straighten up. We got to the bottom in a hurry and I had to stop to comment on possibly needing a change of underwear and to calm my shaking nerves. The rest of the run went by in a daze. It was tough and tight, offering only a few places to make a pass. We came to a steeper downhill to a trail- or gulley called Superman. We were sitting on a steep decline, but I had to stop. I saw the gulley but couldn’t see the bottom. I kept tight on brakes while Clay got out and surveyed it. He said we could do it. He belted back in and I put the 435 in Low (or first) gear and nosed down to the beginning of the gulley. Still couldn’t see the bottom, only the hood and fenders. I let off the brakes and it went DOWN. The gulley had us and it knew it. I found a huge boulder with the left front and sat on it for a second before gravity continued to carry us down and sideways. By now the engine was sputtering from the angles we were at. I gave it some fuel and we ended up at the bottom of it , with the rear tires trying to hold us back the whole way. We decided that a front locker would have been the way to go for this place. Very few high speed areas, but a lot of tight hills with little room for error.
After Superman, we were almost back. Only had to get over the huge rock garden before the finish line. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was on a pretty steep downhill. Again, the only thing in sight were the hood and fenders. We got out and surveyed it before climbing back in to find our way down it. I don’t think there was a good way to pinball down it on the slick muddy rocks. Home free for this lap! We only had to do this for 10 times tomorrow. I decided not to pre-run again at the risk of rolling or tearing the rig up due to the rough conditions we were facing. Uneasiness would be the operative word gnawing at me all night long as we went to bed in the cold mountain air.
The sun came up sooner than I wanted it to, despite the sub-freezing air and chills that the night offered us. Our race was at 9am but we still had to pass tech inspection and do the driver’s meeting at 8am followed by staging our rigs at the start. We checked it over and took it to tech inspection, which thankfully it passed. We had volunteered for tech inspection at prior races, so pretty well knew what to expect. After the driver’s meeting we went back to the pits. We set air pressure to 8 psi and filled up the fuel tank. “You have a leak!” was quickly yelled by a fellow in the pit next to us. Apparently the previous owner had not blocked off the emissions hoses on the top of the tank. A bad omen for sure. The announcer is yelling for all vehicles to stage and we are scrambling to find some rubber hose and some hose clamps to loop the two vent lines back to each other. We got it done just in time to stage.
We started dead last. Nine rigs were ahead of us. We had ratchet strapped the twin sticks into 4wd hi. That was where they were going to have to stay. While still waiting in the staging area to start, I could see ahead of us in the distance the rigs first to leave going down that steep hill we did last night. One of them got sideways and somehow looped it around backwards before it could roll. He had to back down it from there. What a feat of driving!! We started out without incident. I nursed it down that steep hill and kind of knowing what to expect, felt a lot better about it than I did the night before. The race course was wet but still decent. About half way through the first lap one of the XJ’s lost a front driveshaft, capturing 6 rigs behind it. The woods were too tight to get around it- we were stuck! It took so long that the 3 leaders came back around and had a lap on us already. Very disappointing.
We slugged it out for all 2 hours. We got tied up by a couple of broken rigs. We lost a lot of time there, along with the 3 flats we sustained. Perhaps that is why it is called the Flats… Anyone out there want to be a tire sponsor for us??? We finished 4th in the A class. The old girl did amazing. Everyone was joking about us slapping it together and daring t to come out there, but ended up being amazed that it made it. It never overheated, but we did have issues with it bogging later in the race. I had to feather the clutch a lot to get up some of the steeper hills that were too steep to crawl up. The driving position wasn’t ideal, and my arms were killing me from sawing at the steering wheel nonstop. A few times I missed the wheel while turning it. Once I even ran the left front wheel off the side of a steep trail when the front end bounced and I couldn’t steer it back in time. My shoulders are rubbed raw from the harnesses, and am exhausted yet exhilarated that we finished! The rig was so beat that the clutch wouldn’t fully operate anymore. I think it was a combination of having to feather it as well as the whole corner of the tub flexing that much when the clutch was pushed in. You could see the whole tub going up and down trying to break free of the forces imposed on it by the clutch linkage! We lost a lot of fiberglass from the tub but gained a ton of mud and muck…
We got a lot of insight as to things to change and improve upon for the real race rig. We also are 4th in points, which is an added bonus. The new rig will be mean when it is done!! Till then, enjoy!

[broncosbybart]

A HUGE thanks to Clay, John, and Will!!! We could not have done it without you! Thank you to my wife Sharon who puts up with my non-stop spending of cash.

Here is a pic of the pit area from the upper level of the flats, where most of the course was located. It was definitely not flat!!

[Mill Knob]

Congrats on buying this Broncon. This Bronco was right down the road from me. You came right by me should have call or Pm me could have meet up with you guys and check it out.

Congrats on your first run on the ECORS Race.

[Crawdad]

Hells yeah!!! You know I gotta ask, are ya keeping the roll cage on the new bronc?!!!!

[snipes243]

awsome trip can not for next race in alabama, gonna be a great time. Another funny comment was on the prerun the spare ejected its self from the bronco.

The next race is gonna be crazy with the beast

[broncosbybart]

Quick video of us with one of our 3 flats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk4kII4LN...r_embedded

We made it up but the XJ didn't

Lotsa pics here:

http://www.utvreport.com/ecors-the-flats...s-t13.html

Looks like we might have been too low on the air pressure... Gotta love seeing Clay with a death grip on the grab bar...

[sparkchaser]

Awesome job guys!