|
|
Mar 23, 2009 12:44:45 GMT
|
I've just managed to get hold of some photos which my aunt took on the day of the VW Club Khanacross, so I thought I would stick them up here. Since they were taken by her, hopefully I might be driving in one of them, although it's hard to tell from the pics. The corner in the last pic really tricked me on the day. Luckily it was included in a few different tests so I got a few attempts at it. The first try I came in too fast and understeered straight through the corner with the brakes locked and nearly hit a huge pile of rocks! Got the hang of it by the end of the day though. It was a great feeling to really nail the corner after it had tripped me up on the first attempt. It's just unfortunate that we only use this course once a year, so my practice won't help much in competition!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
great work on getting down and dirty with your bug! Your fuel problem - did you trace the problem, from the carb back? I'm wondering if you were suffering fuel evaporation at the carb for instance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
great work on getting down and dirty with your bug! Your fuel problem - did you trace the problem, from the carb back? I'm wondering if you were suffering fuel evaporation at the carb for instance. G'day keefy, nice surprise to see this humble thread being dragged up again. Yeah, hopefully as long as the money holds out I will be competing more this year. The fuel-line vapour lock problem has only ever occurred once, and since it's now well into Autumn I'm not expecting a re-occurrence for at least 10 months. The only thing I did which may have potentially helped to address the problem was to remove the engine cover rain-gutter panel, shown in black with hoses on the previous page. This normally covers the vent holes in the engine lid, so I assumed that removing it may help slightly in engine bay cooling. Next upgrade, for the car is a pair of Monroe GT-Gas dampers for the rear end, which have already been purchased and will go on very soon. Hopefully that will cure the axle tramp and help reduce body roll. Current dampers seem to be the original ones!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Worked on the car a little bit today. Finally got around to installing these little beauties on the rear of the car to correct it's complete lack of damping: The bolts holding them on were seriously tight. No rust at all, just so tight that it required WD40 to get them moving with the rattle-gun. All good now. I also investigated the ignition system to see what was causing a strong misfire for most of last week. Turns out that at least one of the spark plug lead caps has crumbled into small pieces, so I will be needing some new ones of those this week! More money, as always...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26, 2009 14:25:45 GMT
|
Very exciting day today, I've bought a new engine! ;D ;D ;D Unfortunately due to lack of funds it isn't actually completely new, but it is a good, strong second-hand 1600cc twin port engine. I had the engine thoroughly checked out by my very generous uncle David, who has a lifetime's experience as a VW mechanic and determined that all the important bits were good. It's a fairly nice little engine, plenty of compression in all four cylinders, minimal blow-by and nice tight main bearings. I might have to tidy up the tinware a bit and perhaps have a look at some minor exhaust leaks from the heater boxes, but apart from that it's ready to drop in. I had originally planned to do an engine rebuild from my other 1600 engine, but the total costs were a bit more than I can handle on a uni student's budget. The used engine will enable me to get around a lot quicker than the old single-port did and has cost a lot less than a full engine build, which I can always do down the track. Now just got to get it ready and put it in! Can't wait! ;D
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 18, 2009 12:50:49 GMT
|
I managed to get my mate Rex over and do a bit of work on the car this weekend, so I thought I would show you the results. I'm very excited, as I'm now about 75% of the way through the engine swap. We would have got it all done except for the fact that work stopped to take Rex's brother to the hospital for a lacrosse injury, so well done Mason. Anyway, the task was to get the old 1500 motor out and the new 1600 twin port in. First job, lift up the car: But of course, since I'm doing a Beetle engine change, the back end of the car needs to be high enough to slide the engine out from underneath. My tape-measure guesstimation (on the new engine in the shed) told me that I needed to be 65cm off the ground. I already had wooden blocks under my axle stands and was going to need another 2 more under each side to get the height! Thinking this was unsafe, and not needing too much excuse to go shopping for tools, soon yielded these: A pair of 600mm tall axle stands rated to an absurd 4000kg! Well, no problems lifting a VW then, even if I get a campervan later on down the track. Result! The car is now high enough to get the engine out. My mate Rex, who is an apprentice Honda mechanic, helped out. Thanks Rex! And it was finally out. ;D The old single-port 1500 meets it's replacement. Can't wait to update next week after the test drive! ;D ;D ;D
|
|
|
|
Ross
Part of things
Posts: 83
|
|
May 18, 2009 19:20:41 GMT
|
Budd your Beetle looks great, really like that its properly used, reckon I should emmigrate and bring my 68 with me as I'm sick of the weather
|
|
Last Edit: May 18, 2009 19:21:48 GMT by Ross
Mini eh? Rolls Royce Merlin bolts straight in them you know.
|
|
|
|
May 30, 2009 15:15:33 GMT
|
Exciting day today, major progress was achieved! With the help of my good mate Rex, the 1600cc engine is now in! ;D ;D ;D
Getting the engine in was quite fiddly and annoying, although simple in theory. Most of the problems were caused by the difficulty of fitting our tree-trunk arms into tiny gaps and around 90-degree bends in front of the fan housing to tighten up bolts and things, but after a full day's work it was done. A 2-hour night-time test drive ensued through the Adelaide hills, and the new motor passed with flying colours. The car now pulls keenly up hills in top gear and starts instantly from cold without having to blip the throttle pedal, which was never possible with the old engine. The new engine is significantly quicker, but surprisingly is is also far quieter, despite the fact that we de-baffled the tailpipes on this one. Due to the constant and very loud death-rattles of the old single-port it was impossible to have a conversation at speed without raising your voice, but the new (used) motor is so much quieter it's hard to believe!
The only bad news today was that we lost a hub-cap on the test drive, and despite having a total of 14 wheels for the car I only had one set of hubcaps, so I shall have to buy some more from somewhere, which is very disappointing. The new motor still needs an oil change and perhaps some fine-tuning, but other than that I'm very happy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New update! Sadly, after 46,000 miles my front tyres are close to being worn out. The wear is nice and even across the tyre, but there's only about a millimetre of tread above the wear bars, so they're going to have to be replaced. I've been researching tyre sizes and have decided to go down a step from 195/75R14 to 195/70R14, which will get me closer to the rolling diameter of the original wheels and hopefully also have some handling benefits. I've decided to go for a set of Sumitomos, but now I have to decide which wheels! I've had a set of 14x6" Performance Classics in the shed since I bought the car, and I'm thinking of putting them on. This would involve painting and polishing them at home, and finding some proper wheel bolts for them, as well as possibly a full set of 4 tyres instead of 2, so the whole exercise will be quite a bit of effort. As they're not 100% immaculate I was thinking of saving the alloys for use as motorsport wheels and eventually getting some rally tyres for them when I can afford it, but I am still undecided. So, I have the following choices: Widened 14x6" steels and hubcaps, as currently fitted 14x6" Performance Classics with centre caps 14x6" Performance Classics without centre caps The centre caps are chromed plastic and not too flash, but they will probably look a bit better than having bearing dust caps sticking out on the front, and castellated nuts with split pins sticking through on the back. Or could that look tough? I'm open to all opinions.
|
|
|
|
Boogieman
Part of things
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ -- five star failure
Posts: 445
|
|
Jul 23, 2009 17:56:11 GMT
|
steelies!
|
|
........
|
|
|
gsand
Part of things
Posts: 54
|
|
Sept 20, 2009 1:34:49 GMT
|
185/60 Cool bug mate, looks like you have a lot of fun with it! Ive always wanted to try my hand at an aircooled.... Had a very rusty mk1 Golf. Do you drive this daily? Havent seen you yet (its a matter of time in adelaide!!)
|
|
85 Mazda 323 75 Mazda Capella 92 Audi 80 2.8 62 VW Beetle 77 Toyota Hilux
|
|
|
|
Sept 21, 2009 14:25:34 GMT
|
G'day mate! 185/60 Cool bug mate, looks like you have a lot of fun with it! Ive always wanted to try my hand at an aircooled.... Had a very rusty mk1 Golf. Do you drive this daily? Havent seen you yet (its a matter of time in adelaide!!) 185/60?! The automotive engineer in me says no, too much speedo error to be legal without a mod plate. And besides, I use this car off-road in competition, I don't want it lower! I've currently compromised in the name of handling and a decent quality tyre, by coming down from the car's previous profile of 195/75R14 to a new shiny pair of Sumitomo HTR 200s on the front in 195/70R14. They grip beautifully, a world away from my bald 7 year old Bob Jane All-Rounders! And I went for the mags in the end, just for a change. I love the wide steels and hubcaps, but have had them on for over two years now with the Performance Challengers (not Classics as I had misnamed them earlier) collecting dust in the shed. Now looks like this: Yes it is a daily, and my only car. I'm mostly running up and down Brighton Road from the Hallett Cove area down to the Bay these days, but it gets around pretty much everywhere and, as you say, you will probably see it eventually if you look for the orange! Aircooled cars are enormous fun, but travelling long distances in them can be a bit noisy, and you soon get used to burying your foot into the floor a few hundred metres before each hill to build up momentum. Having said that, mine pulled Willunga Hill at 56mph in 4th (overdrive) on Saturday morning, and would go as fast as you dare to rev it in third up the same hill, so that's pretty good. When I eventually got up the hill this happened: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=67784
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 28, 2009 5:27:58 GMT
|
More competition photos, this time from the pit area of Collingrove Hillclimb. I really must work out how to make a mount for my camera and take some in-car video, that would be cool!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 14:33:23 GMT
|
Okay, I'm really excited at the moment because I've just seen the photos which Skot from Offwiththepixels took of my car at the Khanacross Championships. They're amazing! He really is an awesome rally photographer, I'm so excited about these photos that I've sent him an email about purchasing some. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing these samples, but they are on his Flickr account and I can't help myself! Swing-axles are gr8 for driftin, yo! Lifting a rear wheel in a rear-engined car! No wonder I got so many revs coming out of that corner, I thought it was just spinning because of the street tyres and open diff! What do you think?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 12:02:56 GMT
|
Well, this Beetle was always supposed to be my competition car, but it ended up as my only car for quite a while. However, a Type 3 squareback caught my eye on eBay today for what I thought to be a bargain, so of course I did the sensible thing and clicked "Buy It Now" sight-unseen! cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250517559162I'm pretty excited about it at the moment, just hope that it doesn't end up biting me! Wish me luck!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I clicked on that one a few times myself, I think it was just the yellow-ness that put me off.
Looks like the rear bench has never been sat it.
When are you picking it up?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I clicked on that one a few times myself, I think it was just the yellow-ness that put me off. Looks like the rear bench has never been sat it. When are you picking it up? Yeah, I'm digging the whole '70s colour thing. It's actually one of the better colours on Australian-delivered VWs of that era, although white is always classic. Don't know when I'm picking it up but hopefully will be Saturday morning, and possibly going to look at it Friday. My ingenious plan is to try to put some rego on it and drive home, to save money on trailer hire. We'll see how that goes, but I did it with the Beetle, and that had been sitting unregistered for a similar period of time and was in much worse shape. Great thing about South Australia is the lack of roadworthy inspections. Oh, and a slightly scary little secret to let you in on, once a car has been unregistered for more than 9 months, anyone can just go to Transport SA with the plate number and vehicle details, pay the rego fees, and walk home with a rego sticker for it! No signature of the previous registered owner required! I know because I registered my Beetle this way before I went to pick it up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love the squareback - good ones are hard to find in the UK. What are your plans for it?
|
|
Currently driving a 1972 BMW 1602 as my daily. Don't ask about previous cars - there have been way too many and I stopped counting at 160!
|
|
|
|
|
Oh, and a slightly scary little secret to let you in on, once a car has been unregistered for more than 9 months, anyone can just go to Transport SA with the plate number and vehicle details, pay the rego fees, and walk home with a rego sticker for it! No signature of the previous registered owner required! I know because I registered my Beetle this way before I went to pick it up. No secret to me, done it twice myself. Mini was off the road for 4 years and the Zephyr nearly 3.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 12:09:46 GMT
|
I love the squareback - good ones are hard to find in the UK. What are your plans for it? Well, I've completely emptied my bank accounts to buy it, so I'll be driving it as-is for at least a few months. I would eventually love to put my set of 14x6" wide steels on it with some decent tyres (as seen on the beetle earlier in this thread), and of course it will need a good cut and polish. Other than that, just get it tuned up and running nicely, then plenty of miles under the wheels! Will be nice to be able to fit some actual luggage in the back and go for a trip.
|
|
|
|
|