You are racing a what?!?
So here we are...but how did we get here. Well the year was 2004...ok not so long ago. My dear readers have been following along as I did a mad dash prep of a Lancia Scorpion for the 2004 South Jersey Region SCCA Autocross series. They read in earnest my first few race reports documenting the highs and lows of the Lancia and its gradual improvements. And then....I left them in the dark. Sorry about that. You see, the Lancia was a load of fun, but I like my race cars in the prepared or modified category, that is I like to tinker with abandon and not be hampered by too many rules. The Lancia was just too beautiful and rare to allow this and while I was having fun, I wanted more.
Around this time one of the guys over on Mirafiori.com posts that he was junkyarding near his home and they had just got in a Yugo that still ran. Cheap. Now theres a car I can tinker on with abandon and not fear for ruining a perfectly rare and desireable car. I had already seen the potential having raced with Dave Benton and seen the work of Scott Phelps and Jon Raney so I knew there was some fun to be had here. So off I go, trailer in tow and $100 in my pocket to get a Yugo 3 hours away. This was the day before my birthday so rather than question my sanity my dear wife just let me go with her best wishes. Well, it ran, it drove, all in all not a bad car, probably failed inspection and was given up on for some of the small things which didnt matter to me as a race car, speedo didnt work, gas guage didnt work, no front brakes....ok, that last one concerned me. I got it home saturday afternoon with the full intent of taking it to an autocross the very next day. I didnt even pull it off the trailer. As luck would have it the brake parts are identical to the Scorpion so I scavanged the front pads from the scorpion and I had brakes again. I ran it the next day in H Stock to the great amusement of everyone there. In stock trim the car is sloppy, oh so very sloppy. It didnt help that we discovered at the end of the day the front swaybar bushings (which also happen to locate the lower A-arm) were not just worn, they were completely deteriorated.
But Jim, you say, you've had forumla vees and heavily modified austin healeys and all manner of semi exotic toys.....WHY A YUGO?!?
Time to let you in on a little secret. Im a lousy driver, I know it, Im ok with it. The part of this hobby I enjoy the most is seeing how much I can improve the car. Having a nice turn key car that I just jump in and run, well it frustrates me because the car is as good as its gonna get and Im not helping it with my driving. But the challenge of taking something lowly and unloved (a true misfit toy) and gradually building and improving on it and seeing the results of that, not because Im a good driver but because the car is improved, thats the fun for me. And its fun, everyone knows the crazy Yugo guy, we can all have a good laugh at the car, and someday (soon) we can stand in awe as the silly little car doesnt seem so silly anymore ;)
Since then I accquired an 87 Yugo as a parts car but after it was deemed too good to part out it was sold to a man in Canada who will be using it for ice racing. And yet again another Yugo finds it's way to my house (April 06)
So what have I done so far.
For the 2004 season the car was gutted except for a kirkey aluminum racing
seat. I fabricated some front and rear strut braces and mounted a 5 point
harness. The car was initally lowered via spacers in the rear and cut springs
in front. Phase 2 of the suspension saw the addition of KYB-GR2 struts all
around with the fronts being X1/9 units with X1/9 springs for better lowering.
Wheels were stock steelies with goodyear 6 inch slicks mounted. Everything
not essential to operation was removed, lights, wiring, etc and the battery
was located to the rear for better weight distribution. The rest of the season
was spend just sorting things out and overall it was going well.
For 2005,
the first event came with high hopes and the realization of 2 major problems.
The first was our cooling fan had died. This caused very high underhood temps
and eventually the boiling of the fuel in the fuel rail so we were getting
hesitation and stalling. This was fixed shortly thereafter with an aftermarket
10" electric fan wired to the heater blower switch in the cockpit (the
heater and its blower are long gone)
The second more serious problem is we cannot get traction with the car, not
off the launch and not through a turn. Thats right, I said the yugo doesnt
hook up....go figger. Now while it amuses the onlookers to see a Yugo actually
light up the tires, it does very little to help times. So the decision was
made to do even more. An addco rear swaybar was sourced and on its way at
this time. Next a set of Yokohama Advan 205/60/13s were found cheap on ebay.
Compared to the stock tire size of 145/75/13 you can see this is gonna be
a bit wider, and it is. These were mounted on a set of REAL Abarth Cromodora
CD30s sourced from the same Mirafiori.com member who gave me the original
lead on the car (Thanks again Dwight!). They look sweet on the car but I do
admit a feeling of sacrilige mounting these rare wheels to a Yugo.
As you
can see here, fitment is a problem.
This has lead to the most recent project, flaring
the Yugo. You can look at the current results in the first link or see
a brief tutorial of the whole process here.
So now a quick photo history:
| In the beginning she was a stock Yugo. She looked alot like this, but I lost the pictures so you just have to imagine it a bit. |  |
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So then she went on a diet. Lost the interior, rear windows replaced with lexan, mirrors, bumpers, lights, everything excess removed. Cut the springs and put some old 6 inch slicks on the steel wheels. |
Between the 2004 and 2005 seasons we got a new tow vehicle so the Yugo got a quick rattle can spray job to match. New struts, KYB-GR2 with X1/9 springs in front were installed as well as an addco rear swaybar. |
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With the suspension sorted out the need was realized for wider tires which necessitated new wheels too. |
| But there was a little problem with the fit..... |  |
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So a little cutting... |
| A little fiberglass...... |  |
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Some primer and she was good to go for the rest of the 2005 season. |
Between the 2005 and 2006 season it was determined the multicolor look was out, so a little sanding.... (oh, the new exhaust was added toward the end of the season too...) |
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Some more primer..... |
| Some long hours, sweat and a little paint and here she is, already to go for the 2006 season. I hope everyone will try to come out and see us race. Be sure to check out the South Jersey SCCA website for details on dates and locations. |  |
In the works....um lets just say I have a little motor program going. It will involve such lovely acronyms as MSEFI and PBS and if you know what those are you know its gonna be fun. Overall we are expecting an increase from the stock 70hp to about 120hp. But until the traction issues are solved there is little point to adding more power.
More updates as they happen :) hopefully.......
