History
I found this car broken down and abandoned on the F3 Freeway June 1998. After conversations with Police they eventually put the owner in contact with me and from there I sent my brother around to pay for the car while I sat with it making sure no one damaged or stole parts from it. We loaded it onto my bothers car trailer and towed it home. It was out of fuel. That's all!. I spent an intense 4 weeks dismantling the vehicle and reassembling into the then NSW Gemini Rally Series regulations. We completed the car (as it was getting loaded onto the trailer) at 3.30am in morning it was due to compete in its first rally at Clybucca on the Mid North Coast. In the start control of the event I was able to leave fingernail marks in the paint of the roll cage. The car then competed in 29 events in the Gemini Series (and other NSW Rally Series) from July 1998 to end of 2001. It finished every event it started and in each one scoring points in our series. It finished second in 2000 and won the 2001 NSW Gemini Rally Series, as well as 1st P2 and 3rd outright Novice Series and 3rd P2 Newcastle Area Motorsports. As I built, prepared and maintained the car myself in my back yard workshop with the help of my wife (with 3 children then under 7 years of age) it has huge sentimental value to me. Since finishing rallying it in 2001, I R&R'd front guards, cleaned back and proof coated all inner guards, chassis, floor pans and fish oiled every cavity I could access too, I replaced / repainted sill panels etc... to tidy up stone and gravel damage and now the car rests at home. Occasionally I take it for a drive to keep it fresh, I take it to some car shows and Gemini enthusiast drive days.
Modifications
Demountable 4 x Cibie spot / spread light combination light pod, Lower front sump guard / bash plate from front lower apron panel to rearward of gearbox bell housing, All original interior (seats, hood lining, carpets and insulation) removed but kept sun visors for ADR reasons. Front seats removed and replaced with fixed back racing seats but mounted the seats on back and forth adjustable dual latching runners. Front and rear seat belts removed with 4 point harnesses refitted for front seats, Additional wiring fitted for additional lights, cooling fan and fuel pumps. This is wired in a way where a secondary fuse panel is mounted where the radio used to be (along with battery isolator) and in reach of driver / co driver for access without having to get out of the vehicle, along with additional relays mounted in place of the centre console location for the same reason. A Terratrip (rally distance computer) is mounted in place of the glove box lid and a map light attached to the LHF "A" pillar. A driver / co driver intercom mounted on main hoop of roll cage. To get weight low and central the spare wheel has been repositioned in the centre rear of the cabin where the rear seat base used to be. This took some fabrication of a bracket. There are fire extinguishers mounted on each side of the rear cabin. The rear parcel shelf and the area behind where the rear seat used to be have been sheet metal plated in, to create a rear firewall. The car has twin fuel pumps for which I have fabricated a dual pick up system at different heights in the tank giving the car a reserve pump option at low fuel level. The car has a welded steel roll cage incorporating front chassis rail pick up points. There is a singular front facing roof vent to pressurise the cabin and reduce dust entry. Front suspension lower control arms are reinforced and boxed in to prevent stone damage as are the rear suspension control arm pick up points on the rear floors. Whilst localised reinforcing was against regulation, it is permitted to fabricate mounting brackets for other purposes. Therefore I have fabricated a horizontal brace in the boot on which the fuel pumps mount getting them up away from the boot floor which can be subject to stone damage. This brace is welded between the two rear chassis rails and is tagged to the boot floor adjacent to where the pan hard rod mounting is welded on the lower side of the boot floor and a known area for stress cracking under rally competition. All within the reg's but I guess you can read between the lines. The final drive torque tube mounts have had the clearance reduced with a metal plate / shim welded into the lower section and then the upper packed with urethane sheets on assembly, this reduces axle tramp on acceleration but importantly on down hill braking and particular on corrugated gravel road. The gearbox used is a Holden Gemini Diesel gearbox. The car actually competed with a 4 speed version but I have since upgraded it to the 5 speed. The diesel box is used because it is closer in the ratio on the first 3 gears. The engine is built to NSW Gemini Rally Series regulation but remembering the car also competed in other events as P2 class (or 1301 to 1600cc) meaning the engines could not be bored out as they were at 1584cc standard and boring put them over 1600cc or into class P3 which was against regulation at the time. The cylinder head is a 1975 TX model cylinder head, used because it has bigger valves and ports yet has a smaller chamber CC meaning a higher compression ratio. All the engines had to use the NSW Gemini Rally Series cam shaft which were all serial number identified and checked at each event scrutineering. The engines had to be assembled (sump & head fitted) in front of a scrutineer who would measure things before assembly and the engines were then "sealed" with a CAMS breakable seal that had to be broken if the engines were pulled apart. In the 2000 and 2001 series the regulations also specified we all had to run a Dunlop "control tyre". The shock absorbers are a Bilstien unit which conveniently were available as the correct rated shock absorber by part number relating back to when they were used in the rally cars in the UK. The suspension springs were custom made to my nominated ride height and spring tensions. At the time the option existed for rally registration but that had limitations and I could see may not continue, which turned out to be the case. My vehicle has been fully engineered to suit its specification and is registered as a two seater with modified vehicle notation for NSW road registration.
