My mechanic back in Busso was Leigh Hynes, you'll probably know him. Great Subaru mechanic and always has a good yarns from his time on the world rally circuit.

Used to do a bit of black track work with the old chook cooker......420 hp and 900 kegs, goes OK.

Now used to lean my fishing rods against.....

 Nice Rod rack John, but what is it? I was thinking Torana, but I'm not overly sure.

As a kiwi I'm  qualified to confirm it is a Mazda RX4 or possibly a converted 929?

I raced a couple motorkhana/gymkhanas back in the day. Still have my car stashed on a mates farm in a shipping container. It's a little ke25 corolla with a bit of work done to it. Not as pretty as the mazda tho.

Also agree about the costs of motorsport compared to fishing. Still have mates back home sinking all their money into cars that they can't drive on  the road legally.

Double post

 I guess that's the problem sometimes, keeping the whole shebang legal. I'm just creeping past 440hp In my ute at present, but it's my everyday driver, and it weighs in around 1850kgs

 I raced motocross a few years back and now have 2 very modified cars haha. The patrol with an engine swap is my tourer/ get anywhere in a hurry fishing spot mobile and the daily driver VY SS with a 6.3l stroker motor. 

Between them and my fishing or diving my bank account is kept in check from getting to high haha

 Is a Mazda rx4

engine looks to be a series 4 13bt and pushing 440hp was probli and extend port, hi flow snail, big injectors and a microtech Ecu.

john no doubt you will know some old mates of mine Mick Farrell and Matt (booger) bougher, also Clayton leist was always a big presence in the rotary scene.

i myself did diesel mechanics back in the day and did navigating for a rally car for several years (the good old datto 1600). Mainly raced clubman cups and did the odd state round here and there. Paul bennetts did the driving and we took pride in building, repairing and maintaining a lot of the car ourselves. Always pleasing when some people who had far later model cars, who paid workshops to prep their car for them, were left in a cloud of Datsun rear wheel dust by some guys just happy having a go. We won a coupla trophies here and there but they experience and the mateship at the time was awesome.

nowadays with a kid and mrs in tow the rallying has been left behind but I still love the sound of twin 45mm webers at wide open throttle. Also the fishing gear now occupies much of where the car stuff use to live.

i have toyed with the idea of getting another datto 1600 but 45 year old Japanese recycled metal cars are super hard to find in reasonable nick nowadays. You gotta pay top dollar for the humble old 120y! 

 Lee Hynes was definitely a good bloke and a good driver back in the day.

also blokes like Doug tostovan, Craig bignall and Ben steel were all pretty damn capable of peddling a car on gravel at an incredible rate

 I'm building a Hj ute to use for Sunday driver and targa rally ect ect 

I'm almost there, but I got sick of dropping money into it...  going to  buy a boat now then continue  the build  later on...like you guys mentioned above its hard to drive me on st without Po Po trying to sticker you and always breaking parts because the cars on edge all the time 

for those interested will be turbo inj 5l with 6sp 9 inch Detroit locker  

 And speedway way back when, first night I rode speedway my old man said. Hope you have enough money  in the bank to bury yourself ha ha

that hj ute sounds to be a bit of a ball tearer

when you wanna get serious about completing the motor, and any finer mechanical bits at the completion go see my mate Nathan at quads mods in Malaga.

I have been mates with Nathan for near 18 years now and his custom car mods and general passion to modify anything from standard is second to none. He's got plenty of pics and info about his shop on Facebook too. Worked for years as head mechanic at Holden then for years at wilkinsons suspension, bloody good at modifying anything really.

scano

 Used to ride enduros back in my young days and have just started riding a few now that I fit into the veterans category. 

Over the years I have  kind of chased down entry level motor sports , but they always just seem to climb out of reach

for the average joe.

Many moons ago , a mate was into rallying in the run what ya brung days, dato 1600,s , toranas, he ran a beetle baja bug!,

but alas before I could get into it , the scene changed , with more and more money, and better cars.

Before that go karts looked promising , but that changed too.

I was a member of the WA beach buggy club for a bit , and built two sand cars from scratch before that disbanded.( a few hill climbs, racing etc)

So , its 2015 , and I am taking the 800 canam to the next beverly dirt drags for a shot, just ordered some sand paddles, the entry fees are low and 

the bikes dont use much gas ,and if it looks like something worth getting into , maybe a big bore kit, slip on muffler , and some clutch work.

I already own and have paid for the quad , so discounting that , the above work would be around 2-3k most.

And all that work is reversable and I can still use the quad for fishing , when I want.

Check out this amazing image of the old buggy  club at lano , guessing in the 70,s judging by the cars!!!!!!!

Zoom in and see what you can identify!

Been into Drag Racing since I was 17. Ravenswood was like our second home, well it's what we looked forward to anyway.
Crewing with Gino Scutti & hanging with the guys from that era. Bob Campbell, Gary Miocevich (RIP), Martin Stimatis, Gary Mordini & now with my brother inlaw & his Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Was a great era in racing & been getting stronger since the construction of the Perth Motorplex.
Been into mainly Fords all my life except for my first car, a 1960 FB Holden & my current Colorado. But also have a 1966 Mustang Coupe parked along side it in the garage replacing the 1928 Roadster I sold 2 1/2 years ago.
Love cars & always have, now passing the condition down to my 2 y/o grandson who already is building up a good tool kit to restore the vehicles of the real steel era. lol

Thought there might be a few rev heads also in to fishing.

Was working for SWRT (Subaru World rally team) during pre-event testing down south. Had my own WRX at the time. Was covering safety and sat at the end off the test track with a radio. Got back and we were heading to Bunbury to stay overnight. Got in my car and started her up. Sounded a bit weird but gave it little thought as I was tired. But as soon as I put the foot down all hell broke loose. The bloody team changed the turbo, chip and a few other bits to World rally car standards. The power increase from 174Kw to almost 300 with road not gravel tyres had me fishtailing a bit to the great laughter off all involved. Colin Mcrae almost pissed himself laughing, and even got a smile out out of Juha Kankonen (grumpy bastard).

Unfortunately due to Carnet rule they took everything back out the next day but upgraded my chip which left me with 206kw in a standard Rex.

Good days.

Haha yep ya gotta love the old days.
A mate of mine had an old 1960 Ford Anglia with the smallest motor you have ever seen.
So for something to do we swapped it out with a 1600 Lotus Twin Cam out of a trashed escort. Hard to keep it on the road but the best fun was had at the traffic lights against the boys in Monaros etc. lol

Got this one in the shed collecting dust since I have bought the boat :-(

Yep lads, a bit of a rotary nut.....this was my old streeter, RX3 sleeper, 350 at the wheels, cocking a leg at a motorkhana. Sold her to buy the Whaler....a few tears in the eyes as it drove down the road, but more than offset by the Whaler sitting in the shed.

 Raced motorcross and quads a few years back was quite good at it did get sponsors and did a few interstate races and one in the states

I used to race solo bikes speedway years back , went ok I won a few Fenacl meetings in Karratha , raced all over the northwest and did a few meetings at the old claremont track , still own a 1962 Norton Dominator 99ss pretty rare I have seen a few 88s but haven't seen another 99ss in WA , also have a Triton which is a 62 Norton Featherbed frame with a 65 bonnivlle enginge in it , I will be entering it in the perth bike in October . It will also be featured in Trade a bike mag in the near future in the quest to find Australia's best Triton

Raced a little Evo 3 Group A Tour De Corse Replica, 500hp AWD on R-coms. Brutal Fun..

Mainly circuit and sprints but hit the drags now and then; best of 11.24 @ 124mph - as per here www.youtube.com/watchand here: https://youtu.be/u-t3Nqn0cGI

Then there was teh F6..

 I retired a few months back from Dunlop Series V8 supercars to expand my Charter Company operating out of the Abrolhos Islands. Done a few Targas and various other events, raced in the 24hr race at Nurbergring etc etc.... 

 The Ring has been on my bucket list since I could drive, but I don't think I'll ever get there now.

 Dale, dare to dream

 Yeah that place is definitely an experience!!