Rookie Rally 2021
Reassembling my first true modified car that'll end up going to the Rookie Rally. It started as a Burl-Esque, which a coworker gave me for my birthday recently. I removed the front fenders, added a little weight (there's not much room inside this one, and I didn't want to lose the interior), and scored those nice looking wheels from a donor car. The axles aren't fixed, and I haven't run it down the track yet. But they spin REAL nice. And I think it looks killer. What do you think?
- Make sure it's a new build. You can't re-enter a car you already built. It can be the same casting but you'd have to build from scratch with it. — redlinederby
- Not sure I follow, this is a new build I started for this event, albeit a bit early. Am I missing something? Thanks! — AlleyCatRaceClub
- then you're good...you said reassemble so I thought that meant it was one you had made, taken apart, and were adjust. My bad. — redlinederby
- Oh, cool then. I thought maybe I'd already started making rookie of the year mistakes :-) — AlleyCatRaceClub
Thanks for puting this one out there! I've only sent in one car for a race and the only "mod" was a repaint. So this looks like a fun test for someone who hasn't modded a car before. I think I'll skip doing any repainting this time because I love what this car already has on it. Not much room but because it is metal/metal I won't need to add too much weight. The casting may not be great but we'll see what happens. With mods, anything is possible!!!
Thanks again...now to solve the mysteries of speed!
Right on! Count me in!! Let me introduce myself. My name is Donavan and I first heard of Diecast racing thru 3D's YouTube channel around the end of August. I was immediately hooked! Jumped in head first and sent out 3 fully modded hot wheels to race. One for the Pinks for a Cure, one to Miatas at the crest and one to the Proving grounds race. Super excited to see how they do. Really looking forward to honing my skills and racing more!!
Alright, I believe I have finished my first modded car and will be sending it in at some point lol!
Here's what I started with:
Only had one rivet on the bottom of the metal chassis so that was nice. Drilling was very clean and made for a nice surface. It started out at about 41g so I didn't need to add much weight at all. This was important being a small car.
I don't have a wheel farm and don't even know where to begin for that. I picked up this guy because I knew the wheel size was just the right fit. It wasn't the biggest FTE and it wasn't the tiny FTE. I considered going with small FTE in the front and medium FTE in the back but I didn't think I'd like the look and felt the difference wouldn't be too great to just keep both sets at medium.
Fortunately, the one I was able to find had a great rolling set on it and was able to get those off pretty easily. The difficult part was get them onto the Fiero. Being all metal, the clips holding the axle were also metal. I had to remove the OG axles with wire cutters. I then made the decision to snip the metal clips so I could get the axle in there. Since there are 2 clips on one side and 1 on the other, I was able to take off the single clip and slide the new axles in the side with 2 clips. This held them in place nicely within the groove. I had no jig so I tried using pencils, markers, anything really but they all weren't working like I'd hoped. As I found out, the axles were able to seat nearly edge to edge in the groove and the eyeball test showed they were almost perfectly straight. So I just went with it and JB Weld went right on.
I then added these little guys - Tungsten, 2mm in size each. They all fit perfectly in the trunk of the car and held in place with JB Weld. A good distribution without having to mod the interior much puts most of the weight on the axle itself.
I was constantly layering weights and JB Weld as I went, pushing the weights down as far into the weld as I could. I would weigh all the parts together after every layer of weld/weights. I finally got it to 56.6g and stopped there. I then immediately placed the pieces together and clamped. The chassis had a metal post where a rear rivet normally would be. This poked up into the JB Weld/weights mixture in the trunk, something I accounted for. After being clamped down and curing, I had a mechanical connection and didn't necessarily need to do anything with the front rivet area. However, being 0.4g under weight, I decided to add some of the weights (so small it fit perfectly in the drilled out portion) and added enough to get to 56.8g (about 3 weights). I then topped it with JB Weld and smoothed it out so it looked nice. That brought me to 56.9g and nothing hangs below the base of the chassis.
Overall this was a really fun exercise and I look forward to seeing how it does on the track and what my future mods look like!
- Nice looking castings. And I just realized my collection is lacking in the Fiero department. — redlinederby
- Thanks! I have a dozen so I have...not enough. Was my first car growing up - though it was 20 years old when I got my license lol! — pupulesurfer
- That is a LOT of tungsten - where did you find it? — SpyDude
- Sorry, I wasn't checking often here. eBay of all places! — pupulesurfer
I wish I was able to do this race again! I had fun doing it last year. It was a great experience and opportunity to go against similarly experienced racers. I learned a lot from it.
- I agree. Anyone who considers themselves a newb NEEDS to check this race out, its alot of fun! — Mattman213
Okay, so looking at all the post about what is or what isn't a rookie, I've decided to run in the Rookie Rally for the following 2 reasons:
1) I didn't start until after last years Rookie Rally, so this is the first one I can participate in. I consider this my rookie season.
2) I see Custom axles are allowed and I've never built a car with custom axles, so that will be a brand new experience for me.
I'm looking forward to competing in my first, last, and only Rookie Rally. Take care and see ya at the races!
- Sounds great...and yes, if you feel like a rookie modder, then you're a rookie modder. Have fun learning! — redlinederby
I'm definitely in for this. There's nothing else going on in February but the IDR Open. 2 events. Seriously???
Not sure if I fit into this one or not. I think it'll be cool to participate in, being that I've only raced in two RLD races. But my cars have done pretty good. I may send a car in anyway!
Wow, I guess I'm a rookie even compaired to most of the rookies that will be participating. I've only modded and sent in two cars (Rustbelt Racing) so far. I doubt she'll win but I'll send in The Mistress and see what happens. What's the normal way to cover the fee, Paypal? 
- Nice car! Always loved the 70-72 series. — Peter_Bee
- I wanted to make one like I had in HS, but that was a '79 and didn't have the spoiler. I still like how this one came out. — LionHawkRacing
- Well, I put some stickers on it and sent it out. It's not a champion, but I'm hoping not to come in dead last. :P — LionHawkRacing
- Very nice mod, like the color — Mayfield41
- awesome! — PikeHillSpeedway
Hey all. Looks like a good place to introduce myself. Got into this whole racing thing due to 3dbotmaker and his videos, and it looks like a fun challenge. I'm no stranger to working with my hands and building things for competitions, so I'm excited to take part. This rookie event looks like a good way to dip my feet in.