| [ Total Views: 1442 | Total Replies: 14 | Thread Id: 64267 ] |
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 Brad
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| posted on August 9th, 2007 at 10:06 PM |
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gekoracing.com - the path to Warwick 2007
10 guys, 2 days, 1 buggy ......
It all began as a crazy idea which from memory started from Andrew saying” hey lets drag a wreck out of the back paddock, stuff in a tough engine
and go drag racing”
From there it evolved and Brad offered up the Geko Ute as the donor vehicle and a 92 Liberty Sedan to provide the power plant.
After a bit of a scout around the shed we had identified most of the parts we would need to build an all terrain buggy with enough power to have a
hoot at both the mud runs and the drag strip.
As most buggy guys will know you always work better under pressure so we identified the Warwick Weekend as being the best time to start it out and
contacted Craig from VWMA to see what deals could be done to get 10 drivers on the track in one vehicle.
Once that was sorted we sat back and had a look at the calendar, man that Warwick weekend is months away that will be easy to make….. then another
idea hatched after watching on eto many episodes of Monster Garage.. Lets convert it from its current sad state to a Subaru powered, completely road
registered fun machine in 48 hrs …. Yeah now that was sounding more like it.
So a weekend was plucked at random ……. 11 / 12 Aug 2007 and the call went out to the Buggy Building Team …
Luckily for us we had a pretty talented crew of guys who all had a background in modifying things just for the hell of it.
The players (All Buggy / Baja Heads):
Dyno – Fabricating Guru
Wes – Engineer to keep our crazy ides in line with ADR’s and reality
Andrew – Sheet metal guy and general hoon
Mike – Electronics and Web site guy
Paul B – Machinist
Paul H – Air Brush Guru
Terry – Parts pulling machine
Pete – Gun VW Mechanic
Mick – Young and keen, cleaning machine
Brad – Ideas man and parts locator
The Plan
Take the Geko Buggy which was all ready an approved Buggy Ute and had registration but was pretty rough. Pull it apart, rebuild it, add a Subaru
engine, kombi transmission, disc brake kit, VDO Guages, custom dash, custom stainless fuel tank, custom stainless exhaust, radiator and a heap of
other cool stuff and go racing.
The rule was that we had to end up with a fully street legal Buggy which could be used as a daily driver once the weekend was over.
Luckily for us Custom Offroad / Custom Vee Dub agreed to let us use their facilities and make it all happen. Yeah ok so a few of the boys work there
and sweet talked the boss.
If you want to see what happens then stay tuned as we will be running live updates and heaps of pictures right through the build weekend so you can
follow along with us on our web blog …….
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Brad
Wolfsburg Elder
Posts: 3764
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| posted on August 9th, 2007 at 10:06 PM |
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http://www.gekoracing.com
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Dasdubber
A.k.a.: Alan Agyik
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| posted on August 9th, 2007 at 10:11 PM |
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Sounds like a busy weekend ahead of you Brad - best of luck with the build! Can't wait to see how it runs at warwick.Alan
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Brad
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| posted on August 9th, 2007 at 10:40 PM |
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cheers, it should be a laugh if nothing else. We have it booked in for a dyno next week and with some luck will crack 110 hp at the rear wheels
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Dasdubber
A.k.a.: Alan Agyik
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| posted on August 12th, 2007 at 08:24 PM |
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C'mon Brad - I've been hanging out for the next update since last night!! 
Hope the weekend was a success.
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Brad
Wolfsburg Elder
Posts: 3764
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| posted on August 24th, 2007 at 10:46 PM |
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update should be there now
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Brad
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| posted on September 15th, 2007 at 08:15 PM |
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finishing touches, looking to fire it up this week.
then onto Warrick
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Brad
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 posted on September 27th, 2007 at 09:45 PM |
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Last Day
With less than 24 hrs till she heads out the Geko is going and all is done. The engine runs sweet and it should be good for a few runs down the
1/8th
Warwick will be the first test day for our newly modifies Factory ECU scanner, should be interesting to see the data downloads from a stock EJ 22.
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bond
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| posted on September 27th, 2007 at 09:51 PM |
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awesome! am looking forward to see how it holds up against the aircooled boys!]
well done
nick
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Brad
Wolfsburg Elder
Posts: 3764
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| posted on September 27th, 2007 at 10:23 PM |
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[ Edited on 27-9-2007 by Buggy Brad ]
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dangerous
A.k.a.: Dave Butler Muffin Man
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| posted on September 28th, 2007 at 06:18 AM |
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Cool dash board and plaque guys!
| Quote: | Originally
posted by westi
That's mad Alan.
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Brad
Wolfsburg Elder
Posts: 3764
Threads: 332
Registered: August 24th, 2002
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Location: SE QLD, Mt Nebo
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Manx Buggy Building
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| posted on September 28th, 2007 at 08:15 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by dangerous
Cool dash board and plaque guys!
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Cheers, just a pity I have lost the key so I couldn't mount them properly ... damn messy sheds ......:o
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Brad
Wolfsburg Elder
Posts: 3764
Threads: 332
Registered: August 24th, 2002
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Location: SE QLD, Mt Nebo
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Manx Buggy Building
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 posted on September 30th, 2007 at 06:54 PM |
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The end of the Road !!!!
Well the Geko and teh Team made it to Warwick and the results where good and bad. We got to test ome theories and products and 99% of them did exactly
what they are suppose to do. Two that didn't where our rear drive shafts and we ended up shearing both of them and destroying a few CV's. Oh
well....
All in all it was a great weekend and we all had a great time. The Dragstrip crew from Warwick did a great job.
Finished times I don't know but I think we ended up getting a 69mph and a 9.4 or 9.2 something. Mike can say better as he has the slips.
The EJ22 was awesome and could keep the wheels spining through 2nd and getting some drift action on teh strip. Not what you want at the drags but cool
none the less.
Geko heading up for its first run, 3/1/2 hrs later it hads it next one.
Pretty much sums up the finish, Mike sitting on the line after breaking the 2nd axle.
That being said the Geko had a lot more ground clearance than any of the other cars and I don't think to many of them will be on the Beach in
January.
Buggy On !!!!
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Brad
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Posts: 3764
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| posted on September 30th, 2007 at 08:32 PM |
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Oh and a big thanks to Dave B for the loan of the axle, I will send you one shortly.
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Dasdubber
A.k.a.: Alan Agyik
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| posted on October 1st, 2007 at 07:28 PM |
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Well done on getting the geko there to race. Given its setup with huge offroad tyres and tall suspension, it ran pretty damn well!
Pity a few of the boys started having a few drinks after they didn't have the confidence in the trackside repair methods for the new axle.....and
thus missed out on their runs 
Thanks again for the loan of the trailer - much appreciated (and thanks for the help with the starter motor issues).
Alan
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