To help promote the ZUKIWORLD ORDER Suzuki 4x4 Owners Association, we are please to announce the creation and sponsorship of the ZWO racing team. The two-man team consisting of veteran desert racer Dave Capell from Invincible Racing and experienced fabricator and designer Joe Cooper promises to represent ZUKIWORLD well. We hope to follow the build start to finish as they compete in the ZUKIWORLD Challenge racing series.

more to follow....

Hi everyone.  My name is Joe.  Dave and I got a decent start going this week on the ZWO car.  The car was in rough shape to say the least.  We recieved this 95 tracker with 191 thousand on the odometerand they weren't easy miles.  We started with a full tear-down of the interior. Pretty much everything was removed that can be removed.  

Then we dismantled the front suspension in order to install an off the shelf lift kit. We're running with this set-up for now to prove that anyone can come out and be competitive with minimal cash and just basic safety gear.  Here's how our weekend went.

I wonder if I'm the only person leaving the heater in place...  Good looking start!  What are you going to do for bumpers?

I wonder if I'm the only person leaving the heater in place...  Good looking start!  What are you going to do for bumpers?

Probably!

-Eric

I think we're going to use the heater.  Without a winshield, I think it will come in handy!   Bumpers will be pretty minimal since we're not planning on hitting anything at this point.  Possibly made out of aluminum to save weight.  -yes i'm serious   

I see some floor material cut out of the back in the pile....part of your weight saving technique?...

Thats just that foamy plasticy peely stuff that was peeling off.  For weight savings i'm going to take the bulbs out of the tail-lights, and trim my toe-nails 

I think we're going to use the heater.  Without a winshield, I think it will come in handy!   Bumpers will be pretty minimal since we're not planning on hitting anything at this point.  Possibly made out of aluminum to save weight.  -yes i'm serious   

You and your aluminum  .  If you know Joe you know he is dead serious about using aluminum  .

Hey Joe and Dave,

I created a concept sketch for your racer!

-Eric

 

We are dead serious about the aluminum.  We dont want to give away all the secrets of Barbies dream Baja machine, but aluminum will be one of them.

The beat up Samurai that used to run on the Ultimate Adventure all the time had muffler tubing bumpers to help save weight.  Might be an easier option for you. 

Made a little progress tonight.  We decided to ditch all the front drive-train and just run a 2wd racer.  But we're keeping the t-case for better gearing, so we're left with the delema of what to do with the front out-put.  Obviously we can't just leave it open because its a slip-yoke design and wouldn't hold oil.  The best solution for us was to weld a cap over the cast aluminum output. I sliced an 8th inch off a solid aluminum bar, then pressed it into a slight dome shape to clear the output shaft.

  As you may know, welding aluminum is tricky, cast aluminum is terrible, and doing it in cramped areas underneath a car is worse than terrible.  Its only after this disclaimer that i'm willing to show you my ugly weld.  But I did get it welded. 








After that was done I needed to tackle the computer placement.  Its mounted exactly where you'd want your front drivers side down bar for the roll cage.  I wasn't sure how others have gotten around it but this is what I did.  I re-used the factory bracket to attach it to the underside of the firewall using a couple of 5/16ths bolts.  This should allow it to be replaced in a relatively short amount of time.  Now theres plenty of room for the down-bar.

Joe, I have a case I would like you to do that on. Don't need it for the 1st race, but maybe the 2nd? It is out of the car.

Joe, I have a case I would like you to do that on. Don't need it for the 1st race, but maybe the 2nd? It is out of the car.

NO!



-Eric

I thought I'd post up some progress pictures since the cage is just starting to take shape.  Lots more to add, but it *looks* like a cage now...