Here we have a piece of VW racing history for sale.......read this whilst the pics load....;-)
"Toenail Draggin" was built in the late 70s/early 80s to run against V8 cars in the PDRA.
I first saw it at Bug Jam 1 in '87. When my own "1/4 Pounder" race car started to bend it's frame horns I decided I needed a new car.A Ghia was a rarity at that time on the strip.
I dug out my pics from that first Bug Jam and studied them. With a magnifying glass I got the sponsors numbers and started calling around. I eventually traced the original owner/builder Trevor Atkinson. After lots of discussion, I went to see the car and subsequently thrashed out a deal for it(which he later shafted me on, but that's another story!)
First pic is of the car at BJ 1 and at my old yard when I first brought it home.
As with many cars of the time, when I looked over it in depth, I found it to be a dangerous steaming pile of shecht.Roll cage tacked and filled with plod, engine block ground out so far that holes appeared everywhere.His fix was to silicone them! The crank had big washers welded to it as counterweights/spacers for the rods, the heads had been cut so much that all the springs had pulled through the bosses into the chambers.............basically junk. The 46 IDA's were good though, and I sold these to Matt Keene(Hi Matt) as I knew I was going turbo.
Next step....Pro Turbo.......
A full tube chassis was the only way to go. I always loved the look of the Pizzo Bros Fastback and that was used as my inspiration for the chassis design.
A long discussion with Geoff Owen at Owen Engineering saw me trailering the big parts down to Essex for the main chassis. It was built to Super Gas spec(9.90).
I added all the other bits and pieces for steering,shifter,parachute,body mounts etc, and made the rear suspension.
Basically, you have a full cds chassis with funny car cage, adjustable weight bar on front,strut front end with w'bones all rose jointed,narrowed Capri rack,quick release hub,pedal assembly and fuel cell. Rear suspension consists of a De Dion tube on a 4 bar with a wishbone track locater.All ends are solid EN24 with urethane bushings.
The tube uses modified Porsche 914 carriers and discs. The box is attached by a motor plate and hangs in the chassis. All hubs are modified to 5 stud Ford fitting.
Parts of the original body were almost a half inch thick in places so alot of that was junked. I found someone in Wales who assured me he could do a body in carbon fibre. After waiting two years, all I got was one door skin...............................totally pissed off by now.
Jason Aldreds old body came up for sale so I bought that. The roof panel is the original steel one. I also have the original glass/steel doors.
The car rolls on new Weld Pro stars on the front with new MT front runners. The rear Welds are from Steve Greens' awesome Mk1 'Tina.
I also bought some glass bumpers to have airbrushed in chrome. There is an original 1960 Ghia screen too.
The gearbox is a Peloquin transaxles single sided irs with all close gears and a geared LSD.
I also have a window net,onboard fire extinguisher set-up,race overalls/boots/gloves/neck brace which I will include.
Obviously I want to sell the lot at once, but I may break it into biggish chunks..........chassis....rolling chassis........rolling chassis with body..........
I will sell the gearbox separately though.
So....wanna go racing?.............
Ross.
The Cal-look Lounge
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