I have not kept up with this thread, because I was putting all my updates in Instagram. But I just deleted all my Meta accounts, so I'm going to play a bit of catch up here.
back in 2021, I signed up for the Overcrest Rally and took my whole family. This ended up being a 3000+ mile road trip through some of Utah's most remote areas including dirt roads, 9000+ft mountain passes, a bit of snow, and endless smooth sweeping curves. It was a life changing experience that I highly recommend. We ended up on their home page!
Overcrest Rally home page
As you can imagine, this is pretty demanding on the car, and the passengers. It took a bit of prep to take the car from essentially a project to a reliable and safe vehicle.
First of all, I had to get serious about the suspension. Between the 4 of us plus all our luggage for 2 weeks, I had to make sure the suspension was ready. So I bought a set of BNE coilovers, mostly so that I could adjust the height up if needed due to bad roads or the cargo weight. I kept the spring rates super light so that the family would be comfortable, but tighter than factory. If I remember right, I ended up at something around 250lb front and 130lb rear? I can't quite remember now. Ben warned me that it might be too soft, and I think he was right. I did end up bottoming out a few times in both the front and back.
Opted for some Continental DWS tires, to be useful on the gravel as well as twisty roads. They proved to be so good that I've put another two sets on the car since then. I love them.
I already had the IPD aluminum skid plate on the car, but I thought it might be a good idea to cut some air exhaust holes in it. I meant to come back and put louvered panels or thick wire mesh in there, but I didn't get around to it. I am not sure if this made any difference, but the car didn't get hot even on the really tall 9000+ft mountain passes in 90+ degree heat through the desert, with the A/C on full blast.
Speaking of A/C, that was another big part of this prep. Jeff, 55superbeetle, helped me put it all together. I ended up using my stock airbox under the dash (which is a limiting factor here, and was something I should have switched), the GM Truck compressor (which was a problem as it has some sort of variable displacement thing that can't be controlled right. I should have used a new aftermarket compressor), aftermarket condensor, new 240 dryer, new 240 valve, new 240 blower motor, and a ton of butyl tape, insulation, sound deadening, etc..
I'm really grateful for all the AC threads on Turbobricks for helping me figure this out. And extra grateful for Jeff for helping me crimp the lines, charge the system, and especially for correcting all the stuff I was doing wrong.