Pikes Peak or bust!
 

After my first trip to spectate the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, I knew someday I would have to build a car and get out and race. Last summer this dream came true, and needless to say I'm hooked. The car I ran last year was an old Mazda 323 GTX with ~150whp (in Denver), and by the time we left the start line, I was itching for more power.

My wife (who's in the navvie seat) and I have been planning for the 'next' car for the last few seasons, expecting that the GTX might meet an untimely demise, but that car just seems to keep kicking despite my best efforts.

Last week I purchased a salvage 2005 Evo which we will be building to run at the 2008 PPIHC. I will attempt to document many of the steps with the build and hope to be announcing some partnerships soon.

First I'm focusing on the safety side of things, so the car will be getting a T45 FIA cage and seam welding done. Everything else on the power and suspension side of things is still up in the air. I'm also not 100% sure what class I will be running, as the rules for the 2008 race won't be finalized until late November.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.

Here are the 'before' pictures.

Thanks for reading,

Dave

Bought another one!
 

Here are pics of the second Evo. I bought this one so that we could have the MIVEC motor and a decent array of spares.

One of the few wrecked Evo's that didn't have the wing survive.

This weekend's task is to get this car completely stripped and ready for the crusher on Monday morning.

Dave

Sunday afternoon progress.

Just finished pulling the motor/transmission/front sub-frame out of the car. Hopefully it won't take more than an hour or two tomorrow after work to finish up labeling the wiring harness and removing it from the shell.

Very nice man and welcome! Wish you the best and that awesome your wifes the navvie!

Wiring harness now removed from the car...sure are alot of wires!

Front of the car is just about stripped clean. Drivers side strut tower was pushed in so far I can't get the brake booster out.

Nice, keep us updated.

Looks like fun Dave{thumbup}

Very nice. Best of luck!

Devin

Awesome! Keep us updated and stay inspired!

I always enjoy reading about these builds! Thanks for sharing and keep us updated! {thumbup}

Nothing much happening the rest of the week. I'm going to pull the rear sub-frame, struts, and gas tank, then the car's off to the crusher. Once the 06 is out of the way, I get to do the same thing to get the 05 ready for seam welding. I should know by the end of the week which shop will be doing that work.

Hopefully by then I'll be up to 50 posts so I can start selling off some parts to fund the motor/transmission build-up. :rolleyes:

Dave

Awesome! Keep us updated and take tons of pics!

do you know what happened to the white evo? driver injured?

scary to see them so deformed...