Project Plug N Play, Chassis and Suspension - We get down to business with the chassis, Shocks and suspension - Competition - Racing and Rock Crawling
Project Plug N Play, Chassis and SuspensionWe get down to business with the chassis, Shocks and suspension
Publish date: Oct 1, 2008
By:  Marty Fiolka
Source: Dirt Sports
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PHOTOS BYJOSH BURNS


SHEs HOME: After making a preliminary debut in March at the Off-Road Impact show, the finalized rolling Alumi Craft chassis was delivered to our Dirt Sports shop. Beautiful workmanship and sexy aluminum work by Alumi Craft's Mike Harlan are obvious from any angle.
With the hot, humid nights and blazingly sticky weekends of August quickly becoming a dwindling commodity, the harsh realities of Project Plug 'n' Play Alumi Craft are becoming clear in the haze of yet another smog-filled summer in Southern California. Trying to make our deadline of completing our car in time to pre-run the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is going to be very tight indeed.


DEFINITIVE ANGLE: One of the most distinctive features of the body is this perfectly shaped aluminum nosepiece by Mike Harlan. Note the precise body seam dividing the two halves. The aluminum window frame was included, and is easily removable for open-air cruising.
The funny part is that usually the magazine business requires a long lead time in order for the final product to make it to newsstands. Stories normally need to be turned in months ahead of time, which is a terrible reality in this instant, Web-savvy world. But Dirt Sports, which distributes up to 70,000 copies each month to subscribers and via events, doesn't have that problem, thus allowing us to bring you the latest from the world of off-road motorsports with amazing speed.


CHASSIS AT GLANCE
Yes, that's great for you, but in terms of building our new four-seater it means that we really don't know if we are going to make it on time. Really. No kidding. But like any good episode of Chip Foose's Overhaulin' or those upstate New York hillbillies on American Chopper, the payoff for you, and us, will come at the very end.


CURVY INTERIOR: Craftsmanship extends to the hand-formed dashboard. While simple by comparison to today's mega-dashes, Alumi Craft's interior is clean and functional. The center area will house a color Lowrance GPS unit, while Livorsi gauges and PCI intercom and radio equipment will lie in front of the co-driver. The Momo steering wheel was supplied by McKenzie.
We already expect way too many long nights, cold beers, trips to KFC for greasy chicken and temper flare-ups. Will this car see Baja? As we said, right now we really don't know.

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About the Author

Marty Fiolka


A lifelong enthusiast of off-road motorsports, Marty Fiolka raced his first SCORE Baja 1000 in 1992. A graduate of the California University at Long Beach, he formed the Rennsport Marketing Group in 1995 and executed public relations programs for Nissan, Infiniti, Exxon, Mitsubishi, and SCORE International. Now an eight-time Baja 1000 competitor and desert racing veteran, Fiolka is the associate producer of Dana Brown's Baja documentary, Dust to Glory, the author of the recently released coffee-table Baja 1000 history book 1000 Miles to Glory. Articles by Marty Fiolka

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Source: Dirt Sports, 10/1/2008
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