Cannonball Run 2016 build suggestions

[Helix]

Does look cool. 

Beware:

animals and campervans...

We call the campervan guys "Grey Nomads" down here....!

And as the roadsign suggests, Kangaroos are the least of your problems.....camels....bulls and even eagles will make an absolute mess of your vehicle, hence a windscreen would be advantageous 

And as another member suggested, Roo-Bars are handy.....but sometimes completely useless 

Another general tip (See pic below)......be courteous to these guys when you see them....give them plenty of room otherwise they will have you for breakfast  

Enjoy trying to overtake one of these as well, close to 60 yards in length 

Here's a few more examples of what a Kangaroo can do at 65+ mph

 

Edited December 14, 2015 by Helix

[zenrat]

Taking the respective casinos as the start and end points (seemed appropriate) and assuming we will Run North to South (keeping the midday sun behind us plus its faster driving downhill) Darwin to Adelaide is 3,026km by the fastest route and can be done non-stop in 1 day 5 hours obeying the speed limits.

http://www.whereis.com/directions?na=Skycity Darwin&str=Gilruth Ave%2C The Gardens%2C&su=Darwin&lat=-12.460724&lon=130.841207&ena=SKYCITY Adelaide Casino&estr=North Terrace&esu=Adelaide&elat=-34.921753&elon=138.596936&rt=fastest_tolls

Most of this route is the Stuart Highway which is sealed all the way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Highway
"In 1994 the first and only Cannonball Run in Australia ran from Darwin to Yulara and back again. Based on similar events in the United States, this event ended in tragedy when an out of control Ferrari F40^[9] crashed into a checkpoint south of Alice Springs, resulting in the death of four people including the occupants.^[10] The remainder of the race had a 150 km/h (93 mph) speed limit imposed to prevent further accidents."
The wikipedia page is incorrect - there was an earlier run in 1984 from Melbourne to Perth.  http://www.boostcruising.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2268367&st=0

It is possible time could be saved by following the railway line however I would take "maintained gravel road suitable for 2wd cars" as meaning a corrugated dirt road that gets graded once a year if you're lucky  (of course, with such roads the trick is to go fast enough so the car floats across the tops of the corrugations...).
While you wouldn't necessarily need 4wd or high ground clearance you would need;
Very good shocks (at least 2 per wheel),
To wire all important parts onto the car and,
To have a dental appointment booked to have your fillings put back in.

The 1994 Cannonball BTW was a legal run.  Back then the Northern Territory had no speed limits.  This is why the run went from Darwin to Yulara and back.  The NT now has 130 km/hr limits on the Stuart although there are still some unrestricted sections.  Once you get into South Australia though the limit is 110 km/hr.

The biggest issue I can see with this route is that the Stuart Highway is the only sealed road for a lot of the way.  It would therefore be very easy to block - a fact which makes the ability to go fast on bad roads or cross country more desirable so you could bypass the road blocks.  Some form of air support might be required to spot what the cops were up to.

As far as the roadworthy rules go - make it look legal-ish and you might not get stopped.  As to what looks legal-ish well that will vary according to where you are.  In a small country town you'll get away with a Hilux running a cut down tray, dog cage,  33" tyres and a 4" body lift while in the centre of Sydney you might get pulled over for driving a Yaris with your arm out of the window.  Horses for courses.
Lets just say a Monster Truck wouldn't really be a starter...

Must haves would include driving lights, a roo bar, GPS, satellite phone and long range tanks.

Things to avoid on the road include roos, wombats (solid little buggers - you don't want to hit one), camels (we have the worlds largest feral dromedary population) and Road Trains.

 

 

 

 

[Helix]

Wombats........ a quick way to loose your entire exhaust system !

[wagonmaster]

How about a Paris to Dakar style race in Australia. Combining on-road, off road, all out race but not a strait point to point but with check points. As long as the vehicle passes a check point they are still in the race. Being that Fred stated that run at legal speeds you can get from on end to the other in a day and a half. What would an outlaw cannonballer run it in 10 hours? IMO not much of a Cannonball type race. grant it that you have all the critters and road trains to put up with.

 

Tim

[lysleder]

Thank you guys! That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. If this cannonball is a go, then I'm going to have fun.

I am not in favor of having an optional full-asphalt route though. I would want to have checkpoints deep out in the outback.

Edited December 15, 2015 by lysleder

[zenrat]

I've been told that Wombats are so solid they'll roll a truck if it drives over one at speed.  Not sure if I believe it and i've yet to meet anyone who has directly experienced it.  I have met an ex truckie who described in great detail the smell that results a few days after hitting a roo which, unbeknownst to him has then got wedged up next to the hot engine for a few thousand km.

I think Ray and I were simultaneously composing last night.

Tim, if 3000 km is too short for you (and I doubt it would be possible to AVERAGE 300 km/hr which is what would be required to do it in 10 hrs) then how about running Perth to Brisbane (or Brisbane to Perth if you'd rather be driving into the setting sun instead of the sunrise)? http://www.whereis.com/directions?na=Perth Airport%2C WA 6105&str=&su=Perth Airport&lat=-31.9327431&lon=115.9602617&ena=Brisbane International Airport&estr=Airport Drive&esu=Brisbane Airport&elat=-27.4025227998&elon=153.1088731&rt=fastest_tolls

Thats 4,600km by sealed road which is 2 days non stop at legal speeds.  However, as you'll see from the map there is a more direct route if you go dirt roads.
Put in compulsory checkpoints at either Melbourne or Coober Pedy (depending if you want to go on or off road) and you make it much more interesting plus give people an option to build a purely road car if they wanted to.

If anyone wants to get an idea of what the roads would be like you could do worse than watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for the more barren outback roads and Mad Max (the first one) for the sealed country roads in Victoria and South Australia.

Also check out Midnite Spares and Running on Empty.
There is also another Australian road movie about a truck driver on a run from Melbourne to Perth which has some good footage of the roads and scenery across the Nullarbor Plain.  However I can't for the life of me remember its name.  Maybe Ray can jog my memory?  He has a run in with a girl and is travelling with his pet Dingo in the truck.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2015 by zenrat
because a dingo stole my baby

[Helix]

Hmmm, can't remember that one Fred, but we tell them to watch "Wolf Creek 2" !

[zenrat]

Road Games (or Roadgames) starring those great Australian actors Stacy Keach & Jamie Lee Curtis http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083000/

 

[Erik Smith]

Road Games (or Roadgames) starring those great Australian actors Stacy Keach & Jamie Lee Curtis http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083000/

 

Cool suggestions. I will definitely take a look at these. 

I didn't even know about the Camels in Autralia until my daughter and I watched "Tracks" - about Robyn Davidson walking 1700 miles across Australia using camels - and I've even visited down under!

[Helix]

G' Day folks, just thought to make one more suggestion, something that may interest everyone......

A slight deviation to the route which will add an extra 500 (approx) miles and make the guys who want to run the Baja style vehicles happy!

The map below shows the Tanimi Road (Highlighted in Red) or 'track' as us Aussies say, it's just over 1000 km (640 miles) from Halls Creek to Alice Springs, rough as guts and well used by road trains and grey nomads....!

As Fred mentioned, the corrugation is really bad in some parts, so flat out is the key

Suggest when you see a road train.....get off the road and wait for the dust to settle!

There's no places to get fuel until your near Alice Springs at a place called Tilmouth Well

Once in Alice Springs we can jump onto the Old Ghan route an continue on to Adelaide 

Edited December 16, 2015 by Helix

[Erik Smith]

Sounds like a cool alternative. The lack of gas makes fuel planning more important. 

http://bringatrailer.com/2015/12/15/orange-juiced-ex-baja-1000-1964-volkswagen-karmann-ghia/

[TFchronos]

I'm good with that route Ray. Whatever you and Fred suggest is the route we'll take. I think I can say we all trust you two's judgment.

[Belugawrx]

Love the 4X4 Karmann, Eric

Nice going on the tyewin Jonathan !! (you had my vote),..

As far as the course goes,..Like Doc Brown says "Where we're going?,..

We don't need roads." LOL

Cheers, can't wait to start

 

[Grid_88]

So is it at least the first rule that all vehicles must be right hand drive because it seems like that might leave out some of the newer people that want to enter in the cannon ball group build for an example I have only been working with models for about two years with only compleating maybe two kits in total and the kit I am thinking about using is rather expensive and I would rather not have to cut up a dash board just to find out I dont have the skills to finish putting it back together.

All I am saying is that when I have gone back and read some of the other cannon ball threads there was no rule saying that all cars had to be left hand drive because it was held in the US so maybe make it a rule that there can be a left hand drive car if it was imported for this race or something like that.

 

[MeatMan]

Love that KG too Erik.  It just says tough!!

[TFchronos]

So is it at least the first rule that all vehicles must be right hand drive because it seems like that might leave out some of the newer people that want to enter in the cannon ball group build for an example I have only been working with models for about two years with only compleating maybe two kits in total and the kit I am thinking about using is rather expensive and I would rather not have to cut up a dash board just to find out I dont have the skills to finish putting it back together.

All I am saying is that when I have gone back and read some of the other cannon ball threads there was no rule saying that all cars had to be left hand drive because it was held in the US so maybe make it a rule that there can be a left hand drive car if it was imported for this race or something like that.

 

I believe Australian importing laws say if the vehicle older then 30 years it can be left hand drive. If it is 30 years or newer must be right hand drive. That rule will be in place for next years Cannonball.

 

[Lunajammer]

So is it at least the first rule that all vehicles must be right hand drive because it seems like that might leave out some of the newer people that want to enter...

If you're not comfortable with converting the kit's dashboard (and some are tricky) you could just make a basic box dash out of scrap plastic, like a race car dash. Gauges could be paper printed and cutout. In some cases, less is more and as long as it looks good in pics, keeping things simple might help get you to the end.

[TFchronos]

If you're not comfortable with converting the kit's dashboard (and some are tricky) you could just make a basic box dash out of scrap plastic, like a race car dash. Gauges could be paper printed and cutout. In some cases, less is more and as long as it looks good in pics, keeping things simple might help get you to the end.

Well said Mike, sometimes simpler can be better. I've done this before and will likely do it again for my build this year. What I like to do is wrap the dash in aluminum duct tape (Harbor Freight) for an aluminum dash. 

Edited December 16, 2015 by TFchronos

[426-Hemi]

Me, being well...........me, I'm gonna say #3, Muscle Madness...... (I can even join in for the build off!)

[Pat Minarick]

This is what they look like.

 

 

The tires are also available in the Revell quick build jeep ,but the rims are black. And I think you could use the hardtop and doors from the quick build on the curdside kit. The quick build has a separate hood that could be used o the curbside, if you want to put an engine in it.

[TFchronos]

Okay folks 4 days until the start of the 2016 Cannonball CBP "Aussieball".

I just wanted to let everyone know I will have the thread started around 12:01-ish Jan. 1st. If for some reason I don't it will be up sometime during the day.  I believe I have everything needed in order, if anything is missing it can definitely be added in.

That's about it I think. See you all in 2016!   

[MeatMan]

Thanks Jonathan.  

[Helix]

No worries Jonathan....I'm still deciding what to build, better make my mind up soon !

[lysleder]

I have decided to join and on what to build, but I'm not at the ready yet. My chosen contender is on it's way to me in a postal parcel.

[zenrat]

I was going to have a year off but seeing as how it's local...

I'll be knocking up a car based ute with a tray back on a scratchbuilt/kitbashed chassis.
Current front runners for parts donors are my last remaining Buick Grand National, a Ross Gibson Monster Motor, The Parts Box 4wd tyres and a Monogram High Roller Chevelle.

I'm Imagining a combination of these...

The roo bar on the Ramcharger is a narrowed Italeri 1/24 truck item.  It comes in one of their truck accessories sets.  The wheels and tyres are from www.thepartsbox.com.

Edited December 28, 2015 by zenrat