1990-1993 (FORMERLY 4 YEARS- NOW CONDENSED TO 3)
Jim Ratto:
Summer 1990, Back At Work, and the White '67 Sedan with 2276 Super Flow motor
Once I got back to the Bay Area, the focus on getting the big engine in my car pretty much edged out anything else. That week, I had all the internals dropped off at Ashland Grinding, just a few minutes from BH, to get balanced. The header I found at the OC show, was bead-blasted and painted with high temp VHT grey (which I hand rubbed with a cloth to get a gloss sheen out of). I ordered a new set of dual quiet cans from Phoenix too. I started buying all the ancillary stuff, like a full flow filter housing, Mesa cooler, new transaxle mounts, and a set of VDO cockpit gauges. In my head, next time I drove to Southern CA it was going to be in my '67, no matter what time of the year. The next few weeks, I spent time bolting the new gearbox in, painting stuff, mounting oil system, making AN hoses, and eventually building the short block. Here's a picture of it, before I took the CB pump out and replaced it with a Melling, a Berg cover and drilled and tapped the case with the lower end together, using rags and lots of high pressure air. I got as far as getting the short block together, never considering that with a 74mm crank, I'd have issues with pistons nosing out of top of cylinders. So, between having around +0.100" of piston proud of cylinders, and still waiting on Jerry to do a valve job and bore my 044's, I was once again at a standstill.
While at the shop, working the counter one day, a regular was at the other end of the counter, talking to Big Mark about Weber jets. This guy drove a stock height, white '67 with full US bumpers and chrome 5.5" wheels. Inside it had Scat Procar seats and some gauges. Rear tire width and the merged collector told me something was up with this guy's car. I was getting some wholesale order parts together to deliver down the street, when Mark asked "Hey Jimmy, wanna go for a ride in Roger's '67?" (Roger was the '67's owner, a huge guy, probably 6'5 and built like Mt Everest, who worked as an elevator repairman). "Why don't you have him take you down the street to run those parts?"
Something was up.
"Yeah OK." I said.
We walked out to his car, me with a To#¤ta 22R valve cover gasket and thermostat, Roger with a small paper bag with jets in it. As I walked to his car, I caught a glance under the rear of the car, at the valve covers. They looked like meat loaf pans and said -UPER FL- from what I could see.
We got in the car, and I strapped in, as did Roger. He flipped a toggle switch and a fuel pump began to growl down by my toes somewhere. Then he turned the key.
The engine cranked a few times, and then caught. It was unlike the 1641 that was in my car a few months ago. When this motor caught it was like a big hand grabbed the entire car and gave it a shake. Where my car sounded raspy and tinny, this car sounded like the engine was trying to escape from the car, very deep, and angry. He blipped the throttle a few times and the induction noise was very obvious. He engaged first, brought the revs way way up and broke it loose, as he made a hybrid U-turn/burnout all the way across Mission Blvd, in a big cloud of tire smoke and intake roar. He was holding the stock steering wheel at 6 o clock with his finger tips, correcting the car, as we slid sideways, left then right, through second gear. Once the car straightened out, the power really came on and I was thrown back and the nose of the car went high and light. Tach flashed 7500, and into 3rd now, nose still high, probably now 75mph down Mission Blvd, accelerating like a psychopath. I was laughing so hard and couldn't believe the rush this car was, as it accelerated without limits. In a few blocks, we came upon an intersection at Grove Way and a red light. Roger slowed and stopped I was literally out of breath. I had been in one fast VW before, a few years prior, but this was a whole different deal. This car was dangerous and violent.
We dropped the order off and Roger took it easy going back to the shop to drop me off. I thanked him a few times for the ride, which really, was so much more than a ride. I walked into the shop and Mark was standing there, with his signature grin and asked me "Well? How was that?"
To be honest, that ride ruined me.
I asked about what engine was in his car and here's what I was told:
German fuel injection, filled-back case from very late model convertible
SPG 82mm crank done by Jim Wellington at Rennsport Werke in Santa Clara
94mm pistons
ARPM Super Flow heads, ported by Jimmy Hannan
Engle 125 with 1.25 rockers
48IDF Webers
The story was, Buggy House's engine guy, Rob, had the motor for himself, made out of parts he had collected, needed cash and sold it to Roger. In the context of my 1641, this engine seemed a million times bigger, faster etc. To me it was a big deal when I went from 1500cc to 1641cc in 1987. And my new motor was going to be 2054, but this guy Roger went clear to an 82mm crank, with 94mm pistons. I didn't even know what engine cc that equated to, I had to look it up in the Bugpack catalog, where you'd cross Bore Size with Stroke Size. Well Roger's motor was way at the lower right hand extreme corner of the chart: 2276.
In 2016, it's very common for every hot rodded car you hear about to have at least a 2276, but in 1990, in the Bay Area, this was unheard of. The way the car pawed the air as this guy stomped the throttle was unheard of. The sound it made, even just at idle, made goose bumps on my arms.
Between the line up of cars at The Jamboree and this 10 minute ride in the roller-crank car, I was completely condemned. My on-again, off-again junior college career was over. My interest in patching up things with the girl from before, done. If I was awake, I'd be doing something involving VW's. That was it.
Demian:
This has been a good read, thank you. It may have even inspired me to get off my ass and start working on my own 67. Again, thanks and keep them coming.
Demian
jpperf:
Jim,
Always enjoy reading your stories of the good ole days at BH and the Mission Blvd test track!
Popper
Jim Ratto:
Summer 1990 Drags On, Machine Guns at the Dragstrip in Famoso, CA
Next stop on the 1990 VW-memory train takes us to farmlands just north of Bakersfield, CA for the Goodguys show and drags held at Famoso in the very late summer of that year. This year my buddy Frank rode with me, from Bay Area down I-5 in my X/19. We left sometime Saturday early evening, and made the long drive down to Highway 46 Lost Hills, and got a few hours shut-eye. The next morning we emerged from the luxuries of Motel 6 into a blindingly bright starkness that made up the southwestern plains of the Central Valley. Those of you from far-away places that have never visited California, should understand what a lot of our state looks like. Yes we have the picturesque beaches with waves crashing and the palm trees and sunsets, but I'd guess greater acreage here is made up of flat, dust, hot and field-rats. Which is exactly what awaited us, not much more, other than the smells of insecticide, fertilizer and cows.
The Famoso track was about 45 min due east from Lost Hills, a straight shot on Highway 46. Again, I don't have many pictures still around from this day either, in 26 years since then most of them are lost. I had a very cool picture of Bill Schwimmer's 1776 with 42 Webers on it from this day, but can't find it now. This was Frank's first time seeing Bill's car, and a car running BRM's. I seem to remember Bill's as the only "DKP" car present at the Bakersfield show. Frank was pretty hip on Bill's car, we probably spent at least an hour circling it like turkey vultures, pointing out to each other all the trick details that made it stand out to us. Obviously the wheels, but also the Thing fan housing, the V-8 looking turbo muffler attached to the merged header (way before this was de rigueur on modified VW's around the world), the white Fram HP1 filter bolted to the big bar running under the motor with aircraft looking hoses, the Berg linkage, the bumper spring bars. What was so cool is how subtle it all was, but at the same time, making such a statement. I remember Bill kind of eyeing us, maybe worried we were going to unscrew parts from his car ;D, but Frank introduced himself and asked a few questions about the car, hopefully proving we were perfectly innocent idiot kids that just really dug the car. We did see a very sharp set of Skat Trak IDA manifolds on the floor behind the driver's seat. A sign of things to come, for sure- as I'd see in about a year.
We also ended up talking to a guy that was running his car at the drags, a '68 I seem to remember, I think it ran 8-spokes of some kind. What I do remember was his fan shroud, another Thing (181) version but was painted red and had hot-rod flames on it. A conversation starter. We asked about the engine, it was under 1700 cc can't remember if it was 1641 or 1679 but I remember the guy telling us it was built most with Gene Berg stuff (we questioned the 87's pistons I think), I know he said it had a Berg 69 crank, Engle 110, the rest is foggy now. But I remember also it was running respectable ET's like high 14's.
We strolled the swap spots next. I was on the lookout for US-style bumpers for my '67 (my car was currently wearing European blades while up on jackstands at home. Part of the transformation to go with the new motor and trans was to put stock bumpers back on it). I ended up finding a very nice reproduction bumper, with uprights and over-riders for $30, but then remembered we came down in an X/19 Fiat. Real smart. Maybe 10-15 min later we were walking by a swap spot with the usual blue tarp in the dirt, and the seller had some expensive looking stuff on it. We had no money left and again, didn't know what most of it was. What happened next will haunt me for years to come.
Some guy walked up, picked up a few things and then picked up a magneto. He then darted and ran. The seller immediately pulled an Uzi machine gun out and went after the guy. Frank looked at me, and even though he had sunglasses on, I could she his eyes said "Let's get the hell out of here"- which we did. We hustled to the Fiat, pulled the targa top off, dropped it in the front trunk, and propped the bumper up in the passenger floorwell and overhanging the targa bar and left in a cloud of Bakersfield dust.
Once we reached the intersection of Hwy 46 and I-5 I mentioned to Frank I was sick of the heat and dirt and wondered if he minded if we continued west on 46 to US-101, which was probably 65 miles west, closer to the CA coast (and all those images of swaying palm trees, ocean waves, silhouettes of girls in the sunset... right?). He didn't care. Right on, westward we head.
The landscape didn't change as we headed west. It got worse and weird. All signs of life were now gone, and it got flatter, dustier and hotter. In place of cattle, the landscape became dominated with bobbing oil-pumping derricks, literally thousands of them. No people of signs of human life. No tractors, fences, animals, nothing. Just these giant alien looking machines, all going up and down in almost perfect rhythm. The sun was getting low in the sky so the shadows of the machinery were long and made the scene even more bizarre. in the distance we could see a single building with signage that looked like a truck stop. Wonder if oil derricks run the place?
We stopped for orange sodas and fuel. Outside the store a big sign displayed a rendition of James Dean's face and declared this spot to be "The Last Place James Dean Was Seen Alive." Another smaller sign pointed west and said "Site of James Dean's death 28 miles". As if the megatropolis of oil derricks in this desert wasn't freaky enough. Of course we had to check this out.
This was before either of us knew about the ill-fated ride Dean took from Hollywood, en route to Salinas, CA and the accident. We had no idea this all happened in a Porsche 550 Spyder. We knew this guy had been in old movies way before our time. That was it.
Olaf A./DFL:
Thanks again! I'm so enjoying this! :)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page