The Cal-look Lounge

In March of 2010, I came upon a topic on the Lounge called Unknown/Unfamous gassers.  Speedwell had posted a picture of the Stuttgart Express.  Later Eric Ellis responded with a photo of a white car named Sudden Impact.  He related that the two cars were one in the same and the car had been last seen, maybe as late as 2006 in the north Texas area.  Living east of Houston, Texas, I had been looking for an old VW race car to restore for some time, so the search began.  Within a week, the car was located and a purchasing agreement had taken place.

This is the car as we found it:

Along with the car, we received a June 1980 copy of HVW's magazine.  The Stuttgart Express was a feature car, but the photos were in black and white.  The following week, we started trying to find out as much as we could about the original car.  An e-mail went out to HVW's, a shot in the dark, hoping they may have some color photos from 30 years previous.  From my notes, I believe it was R.K. Smith.  We weren't given much hope but those guys went searching.  We were elated to find out they had actually found some in their storage area.  These are a few of the photos they sent which were taken around 1978 at an AHRA drag race in San Antonio, Texas.  Wow, pictures from 30 years ago, those guys really came thru for us.

Cool story

The photos show signage on the car, alluding to it being the AHRA K/Gas national record holder in 1977 and 1978.  Knowing David Crow in Hutto, Texas for some time, I had commented that the car had been purchased.  Come to find out, he was involved with the car after it had been sold to Charlie Dickerson.  After the purchase, Charlie repainted the car white and eventually renamed it Sudden Impact.  With Charlie wanting to go faster, David eventually built a turbo system that propelled the car to a 9.88 quarter mile in 1985, at a Texas Bug-In.

After a vote by my many VW friends, the decision was made to return the car to its roots and restore it back to the Stuttgart Express.  As we began searching for any information we could find out about the car, disassembly began.  We were happy to find a lot of the original car still existed.  The one piece front end (hand laid fiberglass), drop axle front end, front shocks, Mitchell front spindle mount wheels, fuel tank, battery mount, steering, Hurst shifter, roller pedal, fiberglass seat with tubing frame all seem to be original items. 

The original roll bar had been replaced during the Sudden Impact days and had become a roll cage.  Wanting to get the car back to its roots, the roll cage was removed during demolition. 

We had found out that most of the players in building the car weren't with us any longer, but our search continued.  A friend, Randy Larsen, assisted with the search.  He lived near Austin, Texas, which was a lot nearer the San Antonio area, where the car was built.

We had found out the owner/driver, Glen Williams, had passed about 1981.  As we continue demo, a break thru came about when I received a phone call.  The caller had seen a posting I had put on a central Texas racing website about the car and that we were trying to find information.  Frank Wurz was the caller and he said his dad had done most of the welding on the car, including assisting in chopping the top.  Frank also told us that Glens brother was still in the San Antonio area, as well as Glens two daughters.

After the body came off, the pan was stripped of the aluminum panels.
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We had hoped to keep the original aluminum floors and rear firewall, but the ali was so old, the ends were crumbling as we removed it.
Another cool thing was to find some old purple paint behind the door hinges and on the rear fender wells.
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We've since repaired some body panels and heater channels.  The body has been media blasted inside and out, and is currently at the body shop.
Notice, also, the rear shock mount.  They had removed the cast shock mount and had plates on each side of the inner fender well.

I have tons more information about the original car, plus several more photos to get the story up to date.  I'll try to give you guys the short version.

Great story ! More...  8)

Bill, give us the LONG version! :D

cool bill it's cool to see the work you've already done on the car

fabs

Thanks guys for the kind words and encouragement.

The long version will include Olly Otten.  Ollys name appeared in the HVW article so we set out to make contact.  Around the end of April, we had made contact with Olly and made the three hour trip to visit him in San Antonio, Texas. 
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Olly came to the states in early 1964 and started a repair business called International Motors.  In early 1965, Glen Williams had been discharged from the military and found his way to Ollys business, inquiring about work.  Glen began working on, and learning about foreign cars, mainly Volkswagens.  Within a couple of years, Glen began formalizing a plan to open his own business.  One of Ollys customers had a pharmacy with a fleet of about eight VW's, used for customer deliveries, and he had a building available for rent, behind his pharmacy.  Soon Glen was opening Glens Service Center, at the corner of Oblate and McCullah (sp?). 

Olly didn't have any information about the Stuttgart Express, but after our conversation, he took me to the old location of Glens Service Center.
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The reddish building in the foreground was a pizza and beer establishment, back then.  Glens shop was the blue metal building, just behind the pizza business.  We had noticed "Toywagen Auto Parts" on the side of the race car and found out that it was a parts business, started by Glen, selling To#¤ta and Volkswagen parts.  This business was housed in the smaller building to the left rear of the photo, a lawn mower shop, today.
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Cool keep the stories and pics coming !

Sorry guys, I've corrected the word "To#¤ta" twice and it still wont show up correctly.

After our trip to visit Olly, a week later was when Frank Wurz had made contact with us about his dad doing the welding on the Stuttgart Express.  Franks dad, Jim, was a welder by trade and was involved in fabricating the fire suppression systems for the early Mercury space capsules.  Frank also told us Glens brother was still in San Antonio and he would make contact with him.  He also alluded that Glens two daughters were still in the San Antonio area and had just given them some old photos, he had, about a year previous.

Within a week, we were back on the road to meet Lee Williams, Glens brother.  Lee said he had seen the old Stuttgart after it had been painted white, at a Bug-In in Ennis, Texas, a few years previous.  He and the group had spoken about the old days a few times, but they didn't know of the cars recent where-a-bouts.

He was happy to hear that the car had surfaced and supported our effort to return it to the old Stuttgart days.  We spent about four hours with Lee and his wife.  Even though thirty years ago, we were able to get some details of the original interior of the car.  I'm sure some things were forgotten, but another breakthru in restoring the car.
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That's Lee on the right and myself on the left.  Lee also had three of the trophies from the day.
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The one in the middle was from the AHRA Nationals, held at Alamo Dragway in 1977.  The other two were from a Bug-In in 1979 and 1980.  Two more things were to come out of his memorabilia stash, two of the certificates from AHRA depicting record setting runs.  He told me, they were the AHRA K/Gas record holders in 1977 through 1981.  He said that Glens wife had possession of the other trophies and certificates, but since her passing, figured they were long gone.
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Awesome that you've found all this great information and contacts on your car, Bill!
I was at the '77 Nationals at Alamo Dragway with my dad and brother, Saturday night only though & spectator side ... BUT, we were there!
Really look forward to more details and the build.
Great job!
Tom

Great read, love the detective work! I'll be watching this with interest,,,, keep it flowing, and I agree, we want it L O N G.

:)

Remember the pharmacy that had a fleet of Volkswagen Beetles?    One of those was a 1956 Beetle, and when it outlived its usefulness as a delivery car, the Stuttgart team had found their donor.  They also felt it would be easier to chop the top on a VW with a smaller back window.  The rear window was the only one to remain as the original glass, along with its chrome trim.
The top was chopped about 3 1/2" at the front, less than that at the back, giving a sloped roof line.    There were originally two fiberglass bucket seats, supported by tubular bracing.  Only one of the seats remain today.  According to the photos and Lee Williams, the car had a single roll bar with two short down bars to the rear, which supported the roll bar to the rear torsion housing.

The fiberglass front end was hand laid, built by the Stuttgart team.  The actual events of building the glass front end are somewhat sketchy.  Lee Williams remembers that the team used the front end of a VW gasser that Pat Rutledge had built as a basis for the Stuttgart glass front end.  It is unique as to the headlight buckets, which are more aerodynamic than the norm.  Cessna (airplane) landing lights were used as headlights.  White vinyl was used to cover much of the light, as they were too bright. 

Glen Williams on the left, Pat Rutledge on the right.
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A fiberglass deck lid, with scoop, was purchased from VolksToy, a local San Antonio VW parts house, and is believed to have been a Treuhaft item.  The original deck lid was not with the car, but we have secured a suitable replacement.

The gasser was built with a drop axle front end.  Glens brother, Lee, said he knew the front torsion assembly to be ordered from someone in California.  Eric Ballard (Erco) told me that any drop axle front end with VW spindles, around the early 70’s time period, was probably a Deano design.  We don't know ourselves, maybe someone can chime in after viewing the pictures.  John Pierce, a long time area VW enthusiast, believes Pat Rutledge had some influence in the final design, that assisted the Stuttgart to run consistently straight.  There is evidence of brackets being cut off the front torsion housing, an indication that modifications were made.
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All the radius rods and tie rods are 5/8” O.D. tubing, with 7/16” rod ends.  The steering box is an early model VW steering box, possibly from the same 1956 Beetle.  The movement of the front axle was common of some of the VW gassers of the day.  When launching the car, the axle assembly moves down and toward the rear of the car, delaying the tires breaking the starting line beam.
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Hopefully, photos like the one with the location tag, will help us in getting bolting and spacers back where they were.

Naming the Stuttgart Express

Glens wife was born in Stuttgart, Germany and wanted that to be incorporated in the name.  Glen thought a train would depict power and they also liked to watch an old 1940’s movie, that was based on a train in Germany.  It is believed Glen asked one of his daughters what color the car should be and she replied purple.  So the Stuttgart Express was painted a 1970's Chrysler Plum Crazy Purple.

The lettering on the car was white in color, peel and stick, individual letters.  We noticed some of the lettering on the car didn't always follow a straight line, but as Frank Wurz remembers, a lot of beer drinking was going on that night.  I guess that was one of the hazzards of having a pizza parlor so close to the shop.

The team also assembled a go cart with a miniature VW body on it, painted just like the race car.  The go cart served as a fun thing for the kids, as well as transportation at the race tracks.  The go-cart still exists and is said to be in the Boerne, Texas area.

Glens two daughters in the go-cart, Michelle and Minka
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Gerry Dupre gets credit for installing the lexan windows in modified VW window moldings.  Gerry’s dad, Roger Dupre, was a doctor and delivered Glens two daughters.  To come up with a design for the Stuttgart train, Gerry’s mother had an art class at a local school and asked the students to make some drawings of a train with a VW front end.  Out of the six drawings, Gerry’s mother (Bertha) chose the one she liked and Glen agreed with the final design.  Bertha painted the mural on the doors of the car and on the go cart. 

Chris' mother (on the left), Bertha Dupre (middle) and Roger Dupre (at right)
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There was a sunflower mural on the deck lid, with the names of those who had worked on the car inserted in a circular design.  Glen’s oldest daughter, Michelle, came through with a photo and was able to determine the names and their placement.
The names were Lee (Williams), Chris (Glens wife), Gerry (Dupre), Pat (Rutledge), Bertha (Dupre) and Jim (Wurz).  The last two names we only know as Raul and Wayne.  They evidently assisted in the building of the car and are remembered as two guys that helped out around the shop.

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Cool story Bill & great detective work!
Cheers,
Kev

Cool!!!!
Keep the stories coming  ;D

Good luck with the rebuild!

gr
Wout

Thanks guys, the encouragement is well received.

There are just a couple of things left in the history, tranny, engine, etc.  We'll then proceed to the restoration. 

Initially, the car did not have wheelie bars, but after the first time Glen put the Stuttgart on the stinger, the crew fabricated some.  The first bars were attached to the outer axle housings, typical for the day.  They were short, by today’s standards, and didn’t extend out much past the rear fenders.  Eventually, a set of the early Berg bars were installed.  These early Berg bars were still with the car when purchased, although the mount for the bars was missing.

Glen with some AHRA hardware.  Not sure where this was taken, but based on the background, it doesn't look like Texas, unless it's far west.
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Glen sporting longer wheelie bars, at Alamo Dragway
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We do not have a lot of information about the gearbox, but we all know of the perils of using a type 1 tranny, even in those days.  I asked the brother, Lee Williams, about the dependability of the gearbox and how often they had to repair breakage, and he said that the thing was almost bulletproof.  The only time the trans came apart was usually to change ratios and/or perform maintenance.

Per the magazine article, the transaxle was initially a 1966 gearbox with a stock VW ring and pinion, along with close ratio third and fourth gears.  The gear carrier received a “Beef-a-Diff”, adding two extra spider gears.  This is one we've procured for the project.
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The shift rings were also modified, removing every other tooth.  Racers were constantly changing ratios in the gearbox, searching for ET.  Jerry Pelton, who went to some races with Glen, said the later trannies had received quite a few Gene Berg parts and had a Berg main shaft with a close ratio third and fourth.  These main shafts were made by Berg, using first gear from a super beetle main shaft and second gear from an auto-stick shaft.

By zooming in on the engine photo (from the HVW article) in the next installment, we can see evidence of a front “over the trans” mid mount, yet there were not any extra holes or bolts in the pan.  This leads us to believe the strap was one of the bolt-on types.  There doesn’t appear to have been a strap over the bellhousing area.

Pat Rutledge (Pat’s Vw Machine Shop, also in San Antonio) helped with building the car, built the original heads and handled the engine machine work.  Pat had a drag VW during the same period, painted a light blue, that ran I/Gas.  Pat’s car was built first, with the Stuttgart Express being later.  According to John Pierce, Pat’s car was used as a test bed for ideas, between the two racers.  Pat is remembered by David Crow as an innovator, whose abilities and skills were on par with the best in the country.

Dante Garza is the last know owner of Pats’ car.  It was rumored that the car had returned, in later years, to Pat, but we’re not sure at this time of its whereabouts. 

Almost every thing we know about the engine came from the June 1980 HVW article.  While most of it is probably true for the time period that the details were acquired, Glen began experimenting with several things in the final years of the Stuttgart’s existence. 
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Stock VW head castings were used with 40mm intake and 35mm exhaust valve.  Lee believes the intake valves were later increased in size to 42mm. Glens brother remembers that the valve springs were from a diesel engine, but doesn’t remember anything else about them.  HVW’s reported the engine as being a 2130cc with an 80mm Pauter crank (Rev-Tru), modified VW rods and Venolia 92mm pistons.  Lee Williams believes at some point the engine was increased to 2180 with an 82mm stroke. The cylinders were believed to be NPR 92mm, with Pauter power sleeves.  According to the article, the camshaft was an Engle, with 320 deg. advertised duration and around .590 total lift.  Later photos of the car show a Cam Dynamics decal of the rear fender of the car, indicating a cam change at sometime.  Unknown is the origins of the rocker arms or their ratio.  48 ida Webers were used with Skat Trak intake manifolds.  Ignition was provided by a magneto.  The valve covers were original steel VW valve covers with vent tubes welded in place.  The origin of the exhaust header is unknown, but Lee remembers the team eventually used a “Four-Tune”.  The clutch and pressure plate were Kennedy products.  The origin of the deep sump is unknown.

Another unknown is the origin of the blower, used to route air over the cylinder heads, but our search is continuing.  We’re probably going to need some help, solving this riddle.

Lee Williams told of the first time they went to an AHRA national event.  Whatever type rings they had initially used, the rings would not seat.  During time trials, the thing would pour out tons of smoke.  So, during the down time before the first round of eliminations, they removed the engine and changed out the rings, sitting on the tailgate of their truck.  As people would come by, they would be laughing about the “smoking bug”.  The ring change worked and after Glen took the “Eliminator Bracket” title, the laughing stopped.
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Glen would launch the car at 7500 rpm and shift at 9500 thru each gear.  These were Glen’s instruction to Lee, who drove the car, only once, to an 11.42 et.  The engine was taken apart, after each race, to inspect bearings and rings.  After three events, all bearings and rings were replaced.

From the photo, we can see evidence of a cool can mounted to the rear inner fender well behind #1 cylinder.  Lee reported that it was home made, with 3/8” copper tubing inside.  Another thing we noticed was what appears to be a Carter fuel pump mounted on the opposite fender well, behind #3 cylinder.

David Crow said, after Charlie Dickerson bought the car and had decided to run a turbo, David disassembled the engine and said that the heads were flycut “a lot”, which is usually the case, when power sleeves are installed.  He said Glen may have eventually gotten the exhaust porting too large because there was a metal flange sandwiched between the exhaust ports and the header, with steel tubing protruding into the exhaust port.  And again, that may have been one of Pat’s innovations.

As I have said previously, the main names appearing on the car were Glen’s Service Center and Toywagen Auto Parts.  After the team won their first event, Avery Oil Company, in San Antonio, was instrumental in getting Quaker State on board as a corporate sponsor.  A Fram decal was displayed, but seems to disappear, probably because of the Quaker State connection.  Other decals on the car were changed from time to time, but a few of the main stays were Quaker State, Champion, Bell Helmets, AHRA, NHRA, Total Seal and Okrasa.  The reason for the Okrasa decal is still a mystery.  One decal we have not been able to confirm is what appears to be a “NN” (with the flag), located on the lower portion of each rear quarter panel.

We are still trying to determine the origin of the remaining decals.

Some of our favorite photos:

July 1st, 1977.  The first of many record runs for the Stuttgart Express
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Another photo of Glen with some hardware
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The Stuttgart trailer.  David Crow still has the trailer today and says it's the best towing trailer he's ever owned.
He won't sell it, but has offered it up on loan, should a photo op presents itself.
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In closing this first installment of the history of the car, the Stuttgart Express may still be “unfamous”, but hopefully no longer “unknown”.  Thanks to all who have read and enjoyed this part of the journey.

Glen
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Next up:  Restoring the Stuttgart Express

Great story! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

awesome bill :o

Thanks for the story Bill,It makes excellent reading!
The car looks awesome in the picture of it launching with the spindle mounts on.Look forward to more installments.

Cool pics and stories  ;)

Wow Bill,how did you keep some of these photos from me? They are awesome,and everyone let me tell you I have known Bill for years,he is a fantastic builder,racer,and friend. I can tell you he will do this build the justice it deserves,and I will be at it's unveiling wherever it is,I personally saw this car race when I was a teenager and it truly is a peice of nostalgic vw racing history from Texas........" Long live the Stuttgart Express"................Randy Larsen

Thanks guys for the comments. 

What can I say about Randy Larsen, one of the most exciteable VW people I know, and a good friend.  When our searching would grow stale, he would "jump start" the effort with a new lead.

After we had received the color photos from HVW's, we then knew of the colors of the signage and the train mural.  Our attention turned to trying to find out if photos existed of the interior.  That was the driving force to seek out anyone who might have those photos or a recollection of the interior.  When we would find someone, we just started writing down everything they told us.  The search for information became a history lessen of the Stuttgart Express and the people that made it happen.

The details of this posting, as well as the restoration, would not have taken place without a contribution from several people.  This is the best information we've been able to assemble with the help of, in no particular order, David Crow, Eric Ellis, Meridith Horn Jr, Randy Larsen, Olly Otten, John Pelton, John Pierce, R. K. Smith, Lee Williams, Frank Wurz and of course Glens daughters, Michelle and Minka.

Hi Bill,

wow, thats really amazing! A great thread about a cool car! I just can imagine how much fun you had tracking the history of the car.

Greetings from Stuttgart/Germany.

Ole

All right Bill,  It's been long enough. Continue with the story.  Biggg

Well, I thought of starting another topic for the actual restoration, but decided to keep the story together.

After getting the body off the chassis, we took it to be media blasted.  This was around the end of May in 2010.
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With the body gone, we finished the cleanup on the pan and sent it and the suspension parts out to be powder coated.

The body came back, media blasted and primered inside and out with epoxy primer. 
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There were about 40+ holes in the front firewall area.  I guess when someone wanted to mount something new, over the last 30 years, they just decided to drill some new holes.  We began the body cleanup by welding these up.
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We didn't want to make too many changes on the car, but some things couldn't be ignored.  The rear bumper mounting areas were both in need of repair.  They both looked about like this:
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After using a fender to locate the replacement panels, Randy Bownds (we just call him "Big") did the clean up for some welding.
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We decided to over lay the panels, to make the joint stronger, and then attached the two together with cleco's.
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At that point the panels were welded together, with my son Brian offering to do the honors.
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GREAT STORY...keep that train a rolling

This photo shows how much the roof was lowered at the rear.  These pieces had to be modified to tie everything back in.
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So, Brain worked on the panels and we ended up with this.
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After Big did his thing with the grinder and flapper wheel, we applied some primer and will leave the rest to the paint and body man.
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Looking good Bill!!  I need to come over one weekend and see the car.  Its changed alot since we brought it home

We had been searching for some vintage parts for some time, i.e. magneto, Autometer Tach for magneto, etc.  Not knowing exactly what tach was in the Stuttgart, we found this one and on Ebay,
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and not knowing if it even worked, sent it to Autometer, just to see what they would tell us.  

They said it was in perfect working health, for a standard ignition V-8.  I'm not sure if they knew how to convert it, or they don't want to get into that end of the business, they just said they didn't have any of the old parts to convert it to four cylinder and/or magneto usage.  After some surfing on the net, we found an automotive “instrument repair shop” that was willing to take a shot at converting it to four cylinder.  We felt fairly confident since they restore vintage auto gages and clusters, and sure enough, we received the tach back in two weeks, as a four cylinder unit.
Around the same time period, we had procured a magneto off The Samba,
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that was said to have been working.  With the tach back in hand, we contacted Joe Hunt Magnetos about the use of a converter (such as the Autometer one) to allow the mag to talk to the tach.  They said to send both items and they would see if the converter would work, before I purchased one.  Thought that was pretty cool, so both were packaged up and sent.  A request was also made for them to provide a brown cap, new wires and perform maintenance on the mag.

As I was typing this series of posts today, I received a call from Joe Hunt, stating that the converter box worked.  They said the needle followed the rpm curve nice and steady.  We should have these items back by next weekend.
 
According to the HVW article and Lee Williams, the Stuttgart had a Hurst Shifter.  When we took possion of the car, this Hurst was bolted in the Sudden Impact.
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We sent it to Jeff Shan, in Florida (he's "glandnut" on The Samba),for a rebuild and it came back looking like this
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One of the last things to address were the heater channels.  Even in the early photos we have seen of the Stuttgart, it appears the heater channels were bad, even back then. 

As stated earlier, the original roll bar in the car was long gone and replaced with a roll cage.  The cage was then eliminated during our demo of the car.  After some discussion and input, the decision was made to install a minimal roll bar per NHRA requirements.  With the floors and rear firewall not original VW, this would require the new roll bar to be welded to the heater channels.

This is how the left channel looked after media blasting.  The opposite side wasn't much better.
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Some of you know the routine , drill spot welds, cut, grind, and %*%_@%#@ a little.
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Skipping the %*%_@%#@ part, this is the new right side channel in place and we're ready to start some welding.
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Thank goodness this part was done.  Looking back, half the battle was just deciding to get started.
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looks good bill , keep up the good work  ;)

fabs

Thanks Fabs. 

We have about three or four more post to get the story up to date.

awesome thread, cant wait to see more pics!

When the pan returned, it was time to re-install the body and start the roll bar.  We had already received our roll bar kit from S&W Racecars.  It was not their standard kit; they had sent us a work-up drawing, earlier, and we had modified the dimensions and eliminated some of the bars, for our “minimal requirement” roll bar.  Since we don’t have tig capabilities, we ordered the kit with 1 3/4" x .134 wall mild steel tubing. 

First thing was to get some .125” plates rolled, trimmed and welded to the heater channels.  With the roll bar width being narrower than the heater channels, it allowed us to bend the bottom of the tubing out, to contact the plates at an angle.  This way, we had adequate body clearance at the top of the bends.
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Next we installed the down bars and cross bar.  The door bar, as supplied, was a straight piece of tubing.  We bent it to curve out toward the door, for driver clearance, and then down to the heater channel by the front pillar.
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The original seat mount was constructed from thin-wall, galvanized electrical conduit that was brazed together (brass).  It had been cut up and welded on a couple of times.  In the name of safety, the seat mount was rebuilt. Just like the original, it attaches to the heater channel, tunnel and cross bar with bolting. 
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Before sending the car out for body work and paint, we needed to address the rear apron.  We had noticed the original Stuttgart Express had a rather odd looking rear apron.  Lee Williams does not remember where it came from.  Maybe some of you guys can assist in whom the manufacturer may have been.
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We had never seen one of these and had little hope of finding one, so we decided to purchase a new fiberglass apron, one that resembled a stock type apron.  We started trimming the sheet metal for fit and used dzus style buttons for attachment, the same style that was original to the car, on the glass front end.  Also, a rear tubing support was fabricated to help hold the two rear fenders, in the event the apron was removed for maintenance, etc.

This was a trial fitting of the rear apron.
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Finally, we ended out body work with mounting of the deck lid.  We still had the hood pins, which appear to be the originals, to mount our donor deck lid. 
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After the car went to paint we found an apron, on The Samba, which appears to match the original and has never been mounted.  This was shipped to us from Islip, New York.  The outer coating seems to contain a lot of cracks, weathered from probably thirty or so years of just being kicked around.  If it’s the gel coat, it’s starting to crumble and will need lots of attention.  We need to get it to the body man and see if he is up to the challenge.

thank you kept me going on my early morning work shift :)

Pure class !!

With the body gone, we now turned to getting some things done on the pan.
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We had found some old Chenoweth tranny mounts.  They were in need of re-coating, but we had problems finding someone in the area to re-plate them with gold zinc, so the next time I went to the powder coaters, we picked a transparent gold and had them coated with powder.We also had received some brake parts and went about getting these sorted, adding a residual valve, toward the front of the car. 
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This is a little bit long, but worth the read...........in how NOT to clean out the emergency brake cable tubes.

Next came the emergency brake cables, used during the Stuttgart days as a staging brake.  We cleaned up the original cables and sleeves and started sliding the left side one thru the tube.  It didn’t go very far and came to a stop.  I guess the fifty year old grease had been hardened, even worse during the powder coating process.

The only thing long enough; around the shop, was some spare brake lines.  Cut one end off and flatten it like the end of a screw driver.  Hooked the other end to my cordless drill and I started reaming out the tube.  Felt pretty good until the drill motor stalled, hitting something quite solid.  Ok, just reverse the drill and back the brake line out.  When the brake line came out, the end looked like a cork screw…..with about 10” missing.

I went to the local hardware and found a drill bit with a six foot extension on it.  What can I say, it broke off and joined the broken brake line, up inside the tube.  About now, I had this real sick feeling come over me.

It was now time for some more &@#&&_#%@.  As a last resort, what I should have done in the first place, was to find some all thread rod, that would fit inside the tube, and proceeded to force (with a hammer) it through the tube.  Little by little, the pieces started appearing out the end of the tube, up by the hole in the tunnel where the e-brake handle bolts. 

That looks really similar to the one on Stutt bee,I dont know the manufacturer though,sorry

LG

Good catch, I looked up some photos of the Bee.  Looks a lot like the apron on the later chopped Stutt Bee.

This is the one I just received in the mail.
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There were several layers of paint on the fiberglass front end.  So many that what we thought was stress cracks in the fiberglass, was cracks in the paint.  Both sides of the front, where the top of the fender meets the hood, and around the bottom of the hood where it transitions into the front apron, looked like this.
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Instead of sanding all the layers of paint, Pablo (body man) wanted to get someone to media blast the front.  Since the fiberglass was hand laid, there were hundreds of air bubbles, just under the gel coat.  We didn't know that until the front end came back.
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So he went about filling all those holes and finally got it to the point where he could put a couple of layers of primer on it, block sanding between each.  Finally he made some head way and the front now has a coat of finish primer on it, awainting a final sanding and color.
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What we thought would be a problem, the deck lid, actually was a lot easier. 
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It also went to the media blaster, but those guys first took a gasket scraper and started flaking all the old paint off.  After that, they gave the deck lid a dusting of media, just to clean it up.
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After Pablo filled the holes we weren't going to use and repaired some cracked areas, again sanding primer was applied and block sanded.  It is now in final primer, awaiting a final sanding and color.
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good job bill , it 's cool to see another gasser returning to  life

 ;)

We have had the worst time deciding what brake master cylinder to use.  The Stuttgart Express probably used a single master cylinder from the early 70’s and I have secured one for the car.  Then one of our team said, why use something like that when you can use a Wilwood?  It's only 3 3/8" long, comes coated in black, can be direct or remote mounted and should be safer.
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So we mocked up each one and still haven’t made a decision.  If it just didn't have that (white) Wilwood on the side....
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As can be seen, we haven't put the clutch pedal on yet.  I'm leaning toward the VW style master, just to be period correct.  I hate little things like this, so I’m looking for feedback.

We had taken the fuel tank to Sani-Weld (a food grade fabrication shop in North Houston) to be cleaned.  They have a complete facility to fabricate and polish stainless steel for the food and hospital industries.  If you remember the earlier photo of the tank, this is how it looked when we brought it home.
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Other things that needed cleaning up were our wheels.
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We found a guy that used to polish wheels many years ago, and he still had his mechanical polishing equipment.  He wasn't able to provide a finished product but we felt he could at least give us a jump start on getting our wheels polished; less work for us to finish the polishing job.

At the front are the spindle mounts that came on the car, and appear to be the original Mitchell wheels.  The wheels in the center are some Deanos we had in our stash.  The Centerlines, at the rear, were on the Sudden Impact car, when we purchased it.  The polisher couldn't get between the rivets on those, so we have some work to do on them.
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The Stuttgart Express had many wheels on the rear, from time to time.  We've recognized slotted VW wheels painted white, what appear to be Centerlines and Douglas wheels in some of the old photos.

While we know the spindle mounts will be on the front, we haven’t decided which wheels to use on the rear.  White painted VW wheels or Centerlines would probably be an obvious choice, but it’s going to be hard to leave the Deanos on the shelf.

Hey Bill, question is: Will you show it or will you race it? If it's the first, I'd love to see a 100 points restoration, so go for the original item. If you're gonna race it, make it safe and compromise on the tiny details by using a better master cylinder, but do paint it all black.

wow ..so nice to see another ol racer being restored..keep us posted..Si

Thanks for the reply Wunder...., I was thinking along your lines.  The old master cylinder linkage has also been powdercoated black as well, so whichever one we use, it's a small bolt-on to go with either master.

If it is becoming too hard send the deanos my way :) I think I could stand it ;D
Great job Great story by the way
Xavier

I have an 1-1/2" Fourtune merged header if your interested. I don't think i'll be using it.. Its used but has new ceramic coating. I purchased it as it is now.

(http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu14/jheath16407/IMG_7528R.jpg)

Thanks for the offer.  We have a 1 5/8" FourTune, something we had acquired for an earlier project that never happened.  We just need to clean it up and either paint it or have it coated black.
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Since the original engine is believed to be an 80x92, later changed to an 82x92, we found some fairly clean 92 NPR’s.  We will try to stay period correct with the exterior of the engine as best we can, but may deviate some on the inside pieces. 
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We toyed with finding a used case but decided to purchase a new one, stroker clearanced, full flowed, welded behind #3 and bored for 92’s.  I just couldn’t leave it alone, so I bolted some pieces on it, so it wouldn’t look so naked.  We could tell, from the HVW engine photo, the team built their own crankcase vent tube.  For the base, we found an old oil pump cover, rounded up some 1 1/2" tubing and found a cap at the local parts house.  The welding isn’t complete, it’s just tacked together.
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We had been looking for a crank pulley with four round holes, but haven't located anything to our liking.  So, in the meantime, we purchased a solid one from Scat, had four holes drilled in it and the pulley groove machined off.  We'll keep searching; anyone know who made those four-hole pulleys?

We have two oil sumps in our arsenal.  A Treuhaft came from David Crow.
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The second one came from Gary Shubrook, before his passing.  We had met him at the Texas Classic, last April.   Months later, I asked Gary if he had any interesting sumps for the gasser project.  He said "sure, I've got a Deano", and he started talking about a trade for some parts he knew I had.  Knowing Bugpacks sumps are supposed to be off the same molds, I quizzed him about how he knew it was a Deano and he told me, “because I know it is”.  That was the Shubee2 style.
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We had acquired some Skat Traks, about two years previous, so we're good to go since that is the manifolds used on the Stuttgart Express.
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The steering wheel, on the car looked to be a typical buggy type.  We wondered if it may have been the original or not.  It had a bit of rust on the chrome, so we thought we'd just get a new one, so it would be nice and fresh.
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But upon removal, we saw this on the back and now, there's no way we're not going to use it.  The tag says Sep 25, 1970.  It'll just get cleaned up the best we can.
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Nice parts !

Thanks Nico.  We been lucky obtaining some of these parts.   Some came from friends who were gracious enough to part with them; some were found on The Samba and a few from swap meets and Ebay.

Upon our first visit to the body shop, to deliver the Stuttgart Express, we found the body shop had a different style of car dollies, to roll cars around the shop.
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We've made a trip back to the body shop, several times, to reinforce which parts of the interior needed to be painted in different colors.  Our last trip was this weekend.  Pablo has made some progress on our panels. 

For some reason, there were about ten pop rivets around the rear louvers.  These have been welded up with the filler and sanding complete.
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For Pablo, all of the body work follows the same procedure.  He applies filler and blocks it smooth.  After that, the area receives two coats of sanding primer, block sanding between each and he then applies the final primer.  Both drivers doors and the left side quarter are ready for final primer.
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nice bill  ;) car will be ready soon for burning  tires on dragstrip  ;)

When we brought the car home in March of 2010, we had hoped to complete it by mid April of this year.  That's when they hold the Texas Classic in Fredericksburg.  The estimate, right now, is about three to four weeks for the body to be done, so it doesn't look good to make that show.  We might take it anyway, if it's a roller, because Lee Williams and Glen's two daughters live close by.

Here's a few more photos from this past weekend.  Remember those rear panels with all the welding?  This is how they look now after Pablo did his thing.
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The pillars were cut in two places when the top was chopped.  After media blasting, we could see that the line-up between the two pieces wasn't perfect.  These are now ready for final primer.
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That brings us up to date on the body work.

Talked to Pablo today.  The outside of the car is now ready for final sanding and some Plum Crazy purple.  He's now cleaning up the inside, getting it ready, as well.  On the inside, the front A pillars, dash, across the roof to the rear...and around the rear window will be black.  The roll bar will be painted white, as it was back then.  The rest of the inside sheet metal was, and will be, painted grey splatter paint.

Since we have a little lag time, thought I'd share some of the memorabilia that Glens brother, Lee Williams has sent to us.  This first looks like a typical Champion spark plug decal until you see the back side.  This is one of the contingency decals AHRA gave out at the national events, back then. 

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I kept pulling things out of the mailing envelope.  These are pit passes from each national event where they set a record.  Looking closely, you can see where they wrote, in ink pen, the year on each pit pass.
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And some more goodies from Lee Williams.  An AHRA (American Hot Rod Association) tie tack.
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And a cigarette lighter, never used.  It has a VW silloutte on the flip up lid and "Glens Service Center" on the front. 
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Cool items  :)

A few more items from the 70's.  These also came from Glens brother, Lee Williams.  An original Auto-Haus sticker, a business card from the Glen's Service Center days and work shirt patches.
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We started reassembling the trans this past weekend.  Rancho cut the intermediate carrier housing for a Timken bearing on that end of the pinion.  They sent us the housing bare, so I went about assembling the rods and such.  I've never done that before, so I felt I learned something.  Oh yes, it did take a phone call or two to David Crow in Hutto, Texas.  Thanks David for the info about what those odd sized balls are for.
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While by friend Larry has done my tranny work for years, this time I'm trying to learn about assembling them as this one is built.  In pre-fitting the pinion, we learned some additional machining was required on the pinion shaft and the 3-4 spacer.  While those items are off to the machine shop, I decided to clean up the case; the gulf coast moisture and humidity had created a crusty layer on it.  It was purchased from Rancho, about a year ago, so we thought we'd use it for our build.  We used different size wire brushes in our corless drill.  After a "carb cleaner" clean up, we assembled the throw out bearing cross shaft and arm.
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awesome bill great story :D

We want more info  and pics Bill

Thanks for asking about the project.

Not a lot to update right now.  I'm going to the body shop this coming Friday to check on progress.  I know Pablo has finished the outside and it's ready for some purple.  He had a few spots to clean up on the dash left, as of two weeks ago, but he's been on vacation since then.

Our only problem area seems to be the passenger side door pins.  They are extremely worn, allowing the door to sag.  As we received the car, they weren't a problem, but I guess the media blasting loosened up things a bit.  This is one of the things we will attempt to work at when I go there, the end of this week.  I guessing a lot of heat on the hinge may get them loose.

We're also looking at getting a jump on the front suspension.  Since it partially attaches to the front bulkhead, we can't assemble it completely, but we're going to try to get some new bushings in the straight axle and assemble the link pin spindles, in the next few days.  Photos will follow asap. 

I made a call to Total Seal (the ring people) and inquired about a Total Seal sticker from the 70's.  The car had one of those stickers on both front quarters.  They replied the very next day and sent me this:
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Those period attentions deserve your project!  :o

I really love the way you're working on your car.

x2!

Thanks guys.  We are trying to restore the car as best we can to the period when it was in HVW's magazine.  That is the best information we have, except for the details that Lee Williams is remembering.  If we don't know which parts were used on some things, such as the deep sump, we're trying to stay period correct in what we choose.  I'm sure we'll deviate on some things, like maybe connecting rods.  The engine utilized reworked VW rods.  We have some new Eagle H-beams that may get used, but I'm still contemplating some Rimco Super Rods. 

The magazine article said the engine had a Pauter crank.  That would have been a Rev-True, welded counterweight crank.  This one is a 69 stroke and is getting cleaned up and will be sent out (probably DPR).  They've quoted me on stroking it to 80mm and doing a wedgemate.  Hopefully it'll pass the crack test.  If not then we'll just go with a decent 80 or 82 stroker from ?
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We have been searching for stickers (decals) since early last year.  Another one we found:
[attachment=1]
It's an original, but not as large as the one on the car.  If we don't find the larger ones, we'll get a vinyl guy to enlarge this one for the car.

And another, not original, but we're still looking for the real ones.
[attachment=2]

The front axle is back together with new bushings and king pins.  While at it, we assemble the radius and tie rods with new heims.[attachment=1]

We worked on the hinge pins at the body shop, but didn't make any progress.  We will tackle it again tomorrow or the next day.  We're having an attachment made for the hammer gun and will give it another go.  At the same time we're trying to locate anyone in the area that may have the actual tool to remove the pins.

We've purchased a "first" oversize and a "second" oversized set of reamers for the door hinge pins.  We're now waiting on the corresponding hinge pins to arrive from Wolksburg West.  Hopefully, we'll get the doors sorted by this weekend and get them back to the Pablo, so the paint work can get back on track.

Anticipating the body back in our possession, we scanned our best photo of the side of the Stuttgart Express and through some software, outlined the train mural on the door.  Armed with copies of some of our photos, we found a local graphics company who agreed to take on the porject, and they're currently manipulating the sketch, doing such things as making the smoke look like actual smoke, etc.

They are going to provide us a colored proof, we'll go through a few renditions and hopefully come up with a finished product.
Our sketch.........................
[attachment=1]

Bill, If your looking for someone who cares about stickers like you do , this car. Send me an email.

I can reproduce these 'oldschool' white backing, installed on the inside of the glass, or any other way for that matter. the files you have are sufficient.

blizare@gmail.com

Baked Beetle, I'll keep you in mind on the stickers, although there's a local guy who will get the first shot at them.

Finally made another trip to Pablo's.
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If you remember, the interior paint scheme had black on the "a" pillars, dash and across the roof to surround the rear window.  The rollbar was reported to be white.  Pablo has chosen a Ford white to match our powdercoated seat mount.  The rest of the interior was painted a gray splatter paint.  Pablo and I played around with some splatter paint and decided to first paint the panels with a gray paint.  That way the splatter didn't have to be put on too thick.  After that, he applied some clear.  The first picture doesn't do justice to the finish, but the close-ups give a better view of the finish.
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The inside of the doors have also been covered with splatter paint.  Notice the jagged cuts on th inside....that's the way we found the doors, after removing the door panels.  We could have cleaned this up, but decided to leave them "as they were".
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Next Pablo intends to paint the rollbar (white).  After that he'll cover it with plastic and apply the black, as required, to finish up the interior.  The current game plan is to try to have the body completed by the middle of this month, around April 14th.  Can't wait to see some Plum Crazy Purple!

On a side note, we received by e-mail, the first proof from the graphics company of the Stuttgart mural.  You won't see a copy of that just yet, we have a long way to go to get the look we're after.  Comments were made and sent back to them.  We'll make a trip this Friday to talk in person.  

It's been a while since the last post, but we heard some good news from Pablo and made a trip by the body shop today.  The inside is done and the outside is sporting a fresh cover of Plum Crazy Purple.
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One thing we knew about the color, it's lighter in bright light and takes on more of a blue hue in a darker environment.  Notice the difference in the look; the roof versus the quarter panel.

Notice the front firewall, looks a nice shiney black but it had some clear overspray on it, causing some cloudy spots.  They're going to sand it and put a fresh coat of clear on it.  We're going to pick up the finished body tomorrow afternoon and will have more photos in a few days.

thx for the updates bill  , it's cool to see the stuttgart express painted

rgd
fabs

Cool thread :)

It has been a few weeks since we last posted.  We had a project in the shop that needed to get out of the way.  

The body has been sitting in the trailer and made it into our shop last week.  Updating from the body shop, we installed the doors before it came home.  I felt the drivers door would fit fairly well but knew we'd have some problems with the right side and wanted some help in getting the doors correct.
With the front end cut off the body, the right side window post was too far back.  This caused the top door hinge to be too far back, causing about 3/8" sag between the body lines.  We used a small port-a-power to move the top hinge and window post back in position which did wonders for the body lines.

Since the rear aluminum firewall had to be installed before the body was installed on the chassis, we knew the rear windows would have to be installed as well.  

The Stuttgart team had kept the rear window as the original glass.  This window was also the only one to retain the chrome ring.  With the rear glass window being replaced with lexan, some years later by the second owner, we found one within driving distance for our use.  The glass was in decent shape but was real cloudy.  We attempted to get some local glass companys to rid us of the cloudy condition, but they couldn't get it clean.  After some internet searching, we heard that "Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish" had worked for some.  After acquiring some, I must say it did an excellent job.  The glass has some minor scratches here and there from it's previous use, but looks much better than when I brought it home.
[attachment=1]

The next window to go in was the right side quarter window.  I really thought the lexan windows would go easier than they did, but failed to realize, since the body was chopped, we would have to cut the seals.  That first window took us three hours to get in.  At least by that time we had learned what "not to do".
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At this time, we decided to install the rear firewall aluminum, since it had to go through the drivers side rear quarter window.
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After that, the front window was cut and installed.
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Looks great!

good job bill  8)

Bill it's looking Sweeeeet, you and Brian do great work!

Thanks guys for the kind words.  I must say, my son does nice work.  He started welding at an early age.  His welds put mine to shame and is an integral part of the rebuilding process.  


With all the windows in, except the doors, we've turned our attention to getting the body back on the pan.  That way, we can go in so many directions in the rebuilding process.

One thing we've done is remove the Wilwood master cylinder (it's gone to another project) and have installed a VW master.  This one looks so much "more at home" on the Stuttgart pan.  Since these things eventually turn brown from surface rusting, it has received a coat of clear.
[attachment=1]

And we've purchased some aluminum for the floors.  As you may remember, the originals were suffering from extreme corrosion and were crumbing along the edges.  The Stuttgart surely had raw aluminum panels for the floors, but we've purchased some aluminum that is factory polished with a coating, so it should be low maintenance.
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Here's a close up of the floors.  Maybe I should have said a mirror image of the roof of our shop.
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With the ali installed, we've lined up some friends to help with the body installation this next weekend.

 :o :o :o

Just WouaHHHH , great job , you've done here .... the dragstrip is waiting for you ::)

wow I look at since 1 to 4 pages great work !! congratulation ;o)

It was great to have some good friends to take part of their weekend to help with the body installation.  The body assembly team began showing up about eight a.m.; Brian, Biggg, Les Fryar, Randy Aston and myself.  Since Les has a bad back, he was nominated to be our camera man.

Randy had brought some glue, an industrial type of Super Glue, so we began installing the pan seals.  We let the glue dry about 15 or so minutes and the body lift began.
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We had replaced both heater channels earlier in the project and didn't use a pan for alignment, so we were pleasantly surprised that all the holes lined up nicely.  We had purchased some AC Industries pan bolts and they're "all" installed.
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With all the bolts tightened up, it was time for Brian to weld the down tubes to the rear torsion housing.  As time permits, we'll brush some gloss black over the welds.
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The body bolting and welding went so quickly, we started work on the front suspension.  The front end support went on first, followed by the axle and radius rods.
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That brings us to the close of a good day of assembly.  We can now branch out and attack multiple areas as parts are available.

We decided to stay at the front of the car, installing the battery box.  With that done, we cut some more of the shiney stuff and installed it under the front support.
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As we unwrapped the fuel tank, we discovered quite a few spots that needed some additional cleaning.  With that done, the tank is again where it had been for over thirty five years.
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bill no words to describe the work you've done  8) 8) 8) , i'm hurry to see the car on a dragstrip or why not another report in hot vws xxx year later after the first report

good luck with the rest of the rebuild
rgd
fabs

Thanks to all "Loungers" for their comments about our restoration project.  We are trying to stay period correct, as if we were back in 1975, during it's first outing.  That's why the Wilwood master cylinder came off, thanks to a comment that made me realize we we deviating from our goal.

No criticism toward our original vinyl guy, but the outcome wasn't looking good.  We contacted Custom Vinyl Designs and talked to Rodney about the project.  A long time racer, he's really gotten into the project and has made some progress.  We've offered some comments and are awaiting the next rendition.  This is what we have, so far..................
[attachment=1]

WHere is that decal going..? On the side doors?.  :(

If your still finding it hard to get what your looking for in terms of design, give me a shot!

If this is a copy of something original then that's that, but I have some sweet ideas .

Blair
Blizare@gmail.com

Fantastic work so far Bill! Love the car!

About the artwork, it was never a nice design... so I guess you would "have to" keep it as it was...  :-\

(http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14870.0;attach=48590;image)

You are correct.  The train was never a work of art.  It was designed by some school kids, who used this as an art project in class.  On one hand, it might be better to some if the train mural were more enhanced, but it wouldn't be correct.  To us, that graphically challenged train is just another part of restoring the car.

We have now turned our attention to the steering box.  There was evidence of the bottom seal leaking, but the pitman arm had been welded to the shaft, so replacing the bottom seal was out.  We cleaned the gear box, inside and out.  The aluminum top was bead blasted and received a coat of clear, while the paint was drying on the box.  Before installing the box, we applied some wheel bearing grease on the inside.  After some more parts were cleaned up, it was time to install the steering box and column.
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After acquiring some switches, we installed an aluminum panel at the bottom of the dash.  There is a new Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge installed and looks just like our original, we've had in our stash for about twenty years.  The old one will be cleaned up and installed.  Hopefully it still works, but if not we have this new one available.  The original ash tray was cleaned and installed about the same time.  
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An aluminum spacer plate was fabricated to install our vintage Autometer tach in the speedometer opening.
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Made some progress recently.  With the heat (ugh!) and my day job getting in the way some of the time, we've managed to get some things done.  We made a sketch of the proposed wiring layout and that helped quite a lot in getting the wiring purchases done.  With the front firewall being base coat/clear coat paint, we installed some paper to keep the scratching of the surface down to a minimum.  I'm not a painter, but maybe the clear coat could have received more hardner.
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We decided to keep the wiring open, in most cases, and used electrical tape and white wire ties on the installation.  The connectors are the crimp-on kind, but we took off the plastic protectors.  With those protectors gone, the shrink wrap over the connections looks less bulky.
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Keeping with the open wiring idea, we now placed that bunch of wires along side the tunnel, next to the 1/4" tubing for the oil pressure gage and the battery cable.
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In that last photo, you guys might have caught a glimpse of the seat.  It has made it back from the upholstery shop, recovered as an exact to the original.
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We're delivering the door panels to the same shop, probably this week.  They will be plain black panels as were the Stuttgart's, back in the day.

We received our mainshaft back from Rancho.  They took our super beetle shaft and turned it into a "keyed" shaft.  After another mock-up completed this weekend, we're back to the machine shop with the pinion shaft.  When the shaft was modified for a tapered bearing, it appears to not be cut deep enough and we have way too much preload.

We attempted an installation of the drivers side door window and promptly scratched up the new lexan.  So it got tossed into a corner of the shop, awaiting a time when we can cut some more.  For now, we'll work on completing as much of the wiring, at the back of the car, that we can, hoping for a tranny to be installed in a couple of weeks.

Great job! I love this thread, keep up the good work.

Just a thought...you are doing an amazing job,keeping it as period correct as possible and yes,you should stick with the og style door logo/decal..............................................................

but it really is ugly,could you maybe have it made up as a magnetic,that way when it is sitting at home in the shop,you can take it off and not have to keep walking past and going "great looking car ,but man that logo is just so "FUGLY" ;)

"Too old", you made me laugh.  Way back in 1980, I remember when my issue of the HVW magazine came in the mail, I thought, WOW...finally a gasser from Texas, but OMG....that train is weird.  Man, that was so many years ago.  Who would of thunk it...  

I'll pass the magnet idea around the group and see how they vote.

We have been making some progress.  Don't know if you guys have heard, we have set a new record for Texas heat;  some 30+ days over 100 degrees.  

With the lexan in both doors, we've gone about assembling the doors.  The outside left door handle was too far gone to reuse, but we've cleaned up the non-keyed one on the right and it's not too bad.  The internal bracing was aluminum angle and has been cleaned up and re-installed.  Also cleaned up and reused are the door latch assemblies.  Take note, the door opening assemblies are from two different year models, with the right side believed to be the original 1956 ones.  Don't know how long it's been that way, it's the way it was when we took it apart.
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We've finally gotten back to hooking up the tubing to the oil pressure gauge, along with our idiot light sending unit.  With our seat finished we've also installed our Simpson seat belts.

A bit of bad news on our Pauter crankshaft.  The guys at DPR said that because of pitting, it needed to be turned .030".  No way were we going to spend a lot of coin on a .030 crank, so they are preparing a fresh VW welded stroker, 82mm with VW rod journals, wedgemated to a 12 lb. flywheel.

Last week, we got our pinion back from the machine shop (it needed some more clearance for the Timken bearing).  This past weekend Larry came over and we went about putting the gearbox together.  We had purchased the case from Rimco, who installed a single gusset and they provided some pro sliders (no syncros in the box) and some other bits.  I better get on the ball and order some axles so we can install this thing in the car.
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While Larry was setting up the shift forks, I went about bead blasting our Crown steel side cover, sent courtesy of David Crow, and our gearbox is now complete.  It contains a 3.88 ring and pinion, super beetle mainshaft (ground and keyed by Rancho), stock first and second gears; with a 1.59 third and 1.31 fourth.  As mentioned earlier, a vintage Berg "Beef-A-Diff" was installed in the carrier.  It should be a high winding gearbox in the quarter, but the motor we're gathering parts for should handle it.
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We started working on the front fender wells this weekend, after the gearbox was finished.  The original Stuttgart Express had inner fender wells under the one piece front end, so we went about using the old ones for patterns.
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Good news for our area, with a tropical storm moving into Louisiana, we received some much needed rain this Saturday evening.  It was a perfect time to stay in the shop and finish the front fender wells.
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We're starting to feel under the gun on the restore.  With a vintage racing and car show event taking place on October 22nd near San Antonio ( http://texastiming.com/circuit.htm ),  it would be a perfect time to get the car out to that area, a place where it was so sucessful in AHRA racing.  We probably wouldn't race the car, just show it, since we would want to shake it down first.  With Glen's family living in the area, we have extra incentive to try to make the event.

nice work bill , and cool to see you're in the finish lane with the rebuild of stuttgart express

We had made a little progress at the beginning of the month, but have been suffering from some allergies and hadn't touched the car in about a week and a half.

Our axles arrived about two weeks ago.  They are some SAWs; about 5-6 years old and had been highly polished.  We were in such a hurry, didn't get any pics of them.  The assembly went real well, the axles slid into the fulcrums without much agrivation and it was time to install our axle tubes.
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We then went about installing the torsion bars, spring plates and the aluminum retaining plates with new inner grommets.  After that, we installed the gearbox.  Notice the extra bolt in the middle of the spring plate.  The Stuttgart team had doubled up the spring plates, something common for the day.
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With the rear bottom shock mounts being cut off to save weight, the Stuttgart team had welded new mounting points on the inner spring plates.
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With the gearbox in place, we went about cutting our battery cable and installing it from the cut-off switch to the starter solenoid and then terminated the wiring from the solenoid to the dash switches.
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With that done, we installed the clutch tube and cable; fairly straight forward stuff.
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That's when we discovered we would have to change the throwout bearing arm and shaft.  I guess with the Crown side cover, we're needing the curved throwout bearing arm.  We have those in a donor tranny so at least we don't have to scrounge parts.
This pic shows the misalignment.............
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On the power train side of things; we have received our 82mm stroker and flywheel from DPR, so we've taken those and our other engine parts to the builder.  We've hoped, all along, to put some type of VW head on the gasser.  Some of CB's CNC 044s would have been the easy route but we've kept looking and have now acquired some "old" Autocraft Stage 3 heads and expect their arrival next week. 

We couldn't find a clutch arm to our liking so we put some heat on it and bent it to align properly with the clutch cable.  Then we dipped it into a bucket of oil for some strength.

Also, this week, we've received some things in the mail.  The Stuttgart had some fairly large tires on the front, some 5.60x15's, so the modern skinny front runners wouldn't do for the restore.  We've acquired some tires from a company on the east coast.  They call them "classic front runners".
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Also, UPS has delivered our M&H's, bought through "JEGS".
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And last but not least, we received an oil pump cover from good friend David Crow;  a DDS oil pump cover....WOW.  Can't believe he gave it up.
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We've also been able to assemble the rear brakes and we've managed to find some rear drums.  We still need to drill them and press in some studs.  Sure wish we could keep them looking like this without some type of coating.
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That's a dummy motor you might have seen in the background.

Our search for some heads ended when we received some Autocraft Stage 3's, based on 040 castings.
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After cc'ing the heads, we decided to flycut the step out of the heads for more compression.  Oops, upon unbolting the flycutter, we discovered we now had a nice hole where the barrel seats.  Seems the early 040's were known to have this problem with deep fly-cutting.  They're being sent out for some serious welding and repair.  While at the machine shop, we're asking that they remove another fin, to clear our NPR cylinders.  That will also take off that broken fin.
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The Stuttgart Express is looking a lot closer to being done.  It's funny how a project can seem to start coming together when you get some color and signage on the body.  Rodney Owens (Custom Vinyl Design) started out first with applying the train mural to the doors.
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Early on, the phone number was placed on the rear fenders.  In later photos and in the article in HVW's, we notice the phone number and city showed up under the train.  Those later photos are our basis for the restoration.
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cool bill , that's cool to see the car so close to the end ,and i hope teh car will be again in HOT VW'S but this time for a color report  ;D

 ;)
fabs

Amazing Bill, well done, you must be delighted with the final touchs being aplied, makes you feel you on the homeward strech now.

Next time im in Houston, will let you know would love a closer look, keep the thread going, its fantatstic.

Russell

I appreciate the kind words, guys.  Russell, just give me a little heads up.  I can be available pretty much, any time, as long as I'm in town.  Baytown is about 18-20 miles east of Houston; about a 25-30 minute car ride.

Good work Bill  8)

Thanks Nico.  Wow!, I can't believe it's been so long since the last posting.  Not a whole lot of work has been done, but we're still making progress.  As might be obvious, we didn't make the vintage race in San Antonio.

We have installed some studs in our rear drums.  They were countersunk on the inside, to keep them from rubbing the brake shoes; and they've received some black paint.
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We wanted to clean up the front shocks, but weren't really sure of painting them.  Let's face it, painted shocks look like painted shocks.  So after cleaning them up in the blasting cabinet, we covered them with a coat of clear.  Yes it's paint, but not really.  Our fuel line has also been installed from the front, near the tank, and attached it to the underside of the drivers side heater channel.
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We've now finished polishing our wheels.  I have to say, I hate rivets in wheels; very tedious work.  After this past weekend,  I gave up and decided they were good enough.
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And here is a look at the inside of the rear wheels.
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For a few days now, we've been working on our IDA's.  These are some carbs that were used on my friends "super gas" race car, about 15 years ago, and have been sitting since then.  Our first order of business was to get them apart.
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We replaced our glass beads in the blasting cabinet with soda.  That way, we could clean up the carbs and the media would be easy to remove from the internal passages.  This is the progress with one of the carbs blasted.
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We've now completed both carbs and working to clean up the remaining parts.  This photo is from last week, as the carbs are now assembled.  We're waiting on a few pieces to complete the job.
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Since we need to utilize center pull linkage, I'm on the look-out for some vintage stuff.  We have the center link, but need the threaded rods and the carb arms.  I have some of the newer pieces, but don't really want to use them. Soooooo, if anyone has some extra Treuhaft or Deano pieces, please PM.  Ok, maybe that's wishful thinking.
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good work bill as usual ,........... centerlines ??? where 're the dds wheels ???
 

I'm on the fence as to which wheels to use.  One week it's the Centerlines, the next week it's the Deano's.  We've finished the polishing of the Deano's, as well, and they may show up on the finished product. 

Now that you asked the question, the Deano's do have some history with this car, sort of.  David Crow used them on his A/MC car when he raced against the Stuttgart Express around '79 or '80.  The Express beat him back then and he told me, a few weeks ago, that since he still has the A/MC, he wants a re-match. 

Cool! While you're at it, see if you can talk Pappy Crow into re-painting "Right On" and the hand/extended thumb that used to adorn the doors of his '67 A/MC car, "Blackie"... ;D

Looking good Bill!
I was hoping I might see you at the Texas Timing Assoc. runs last month  :-\, oh well, still fun!

So, do we need to dig up the old A/MC rules to tech these cars before the runs? 2 out of 3???
LOL

Can't WAIT!!!
TxT

You're so right Eric, I'd love for him to repaint that car the way it was.  Thanks for the photo you posted on here of the Sudden Impact.  It gave me hope that I might actually find the car.

Tom, it's good to hear from you.  We tried, but didn't get the car finished in time to make that event.  As to rules, I'm guessing neither of us would be teching anything.  Knowing David,  I'll need to build something better than the vintage motor.

We looked at different ways to secure our door windows and finally decided to put it back the way we found them.  Along the bottom of the window, screws were used to attach them to the doors, using the existing holes.
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Rubber hose was shoved into the channels at the front and back of each window.  At the lower front, a piece of aluminum angle was used to hold the window against the outer door skin.
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Getting these windows secured, we were now able to mount the door panels.  Originally just plain aluminum, the Stuttgart team had glued vinyl to the panels, believed to be just before the '80 AHRA Nationals;  no stiching, just plain black vinyl.  We found evidence that the original panels were secured by upholstery washers and screws.  This was confirmed by Lee Williams.

You might notice the gap on the "b" pillar about the same height as the head rest.  The top chop looks pretty decent from the outside, but the crew left quite a few blemishes on the inside.  Even though Pablo had wanted to weld these up during the body prep work, we asked that they be left as they were.  
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With this done, the interior is now complete.
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The tires were mounted this weekend.  After installing some new bearings in the front wheels, we decided to give them a trial fit.  They haven't received the wheel bearing nuts as of yet, waiting until after we get the one piece front end situated.  Just one more step in making this thing a "roller".
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cool ,cool and cool bill  ;)

Thanks.  I have lots of admiration for you guys who can go through a build that takes years.  We've been at the restoration for about 17 months and our interest has gone through several peaks and valleys.  Lately, the excitement level has gone up quite a bit.  

Biggg came over this weekend and we went about getting our front end situated on the gasser.  I have to say, we're beginning to see a car evolve out of all this mess.  Fitting the front end was fairly simple;  it's been there before and only needed a few tweeks, here and there.  Biggg was messing with one of the flanged Dzus buttons, so I took the opportunity to get him in the pic.
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The front end slides over two hood pins at the lower front of the car, with flanged Dzus buttons on the lower edges at the back of each fender and a single button in the middle of the hood area.
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After getting to a stopping point on the one piece front end, we moved to the rear and mounted our rear apron.  The line up of the body lines needs a little adjusting to be done.  This is a temporary apron, if you remember the earlier story about the Stuttgarts apron and it's unique look.  Our other apron is over at Pablos shop, awaiting for us to finish the rest of the car, so it can get a fitting before paint.
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In the next picture, you may see the rear lights are fitted and we have started the fab of the rear T-bar.
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Keep the hope bill, the end of the project is not very far any more  ;)

Since I'm Helping Bill with his restoration on the "Stuttgart Express", I want to throw out there that this past weekend we came to the conclusion that the Deano wheels are a must on the rear of the "Stuttgart". Bill is trying very hard to keep this resto period perfect which is sometimes difficult. I just want to thank Bill for his dedication and his faithfull VW devotion. Bill is a "Bug Nut". He hasn't mentioned his past endevors-multiple dirt vw stock cars, his speedster drag car with which he was super gas champion, or the last race car, which was an asphalt oval Beetle that was quite tricked out. Bill is a humble Bug Nut and I am proud to be his friend and also to be able to assist him on his Beetle projects.              Biggg

I want to chime in and say I too cannot believe the drive Bill Stipe has when it comes to VW's, about the time I get burned out on building my own cars,he calls and renews my energy and interest in putting my own VW's together,he is tireless and is a " true " dyed in the dirt VW lover, I hope that someone takes notice of the time,effort,and money he has put into this project " The Stuttgart Express" and I hope it to graces the cover of Hot VW's magazine like it did back in the 70's, I just got the new issue with the three gassers on the cover,heck he won his first dirt track race in a VW bug the year I was born 1967 ( sorry Bill, had to giv'em that fact !!!! )............Long live the Texas Rocket, " The Stuttgart Express"..........

Wow!  No secrets with these guys.  Biggg and Randy are super nice guys and two very dear friends.  I'll post up on my past oval track racing when I get time to scan some photos.

We received a package in the mail late last week.  Our heads and manifolds returned from VW Paradise and are already at the engine builder.  Kris Lauffer welded up the combustion chambers and machined them for our NPR 92's.  After he welded up the intakes, Mark Tremblay performed the match porting.  
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With the fitting of the one piece front end, we installed the tires.  That's our Mitchell's on the front and as Biggg stated, the Deano's were nominated for the rears.
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Bill
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Richard Wallesch and I'm located in the San Antonio area. Your thread on the resto of Glen's VW is like a trip down memory lane for me. I  worked on and campaigned several of the old VW gassers back in the late 70s-early 80s and have many memorys of Glen and the Express hi-lighted at the first Bug-In at Alamo Dragway. Pat helped put it on and i was fortunate to run the Express twice that Saturday night. Once in a bye run that they paired us together and then in  king of the hill eliminations later in the night. I was blessed to win both, but not for lack of trying for Glen and his crew. The list of bugs there that night was who's who in Texas bug Racing. Glens's car, David with Right on, A young guy by the name of Tony with a Cali car called Saturday Night Fever just to name a few. I was  able to make the final with my car (Devils Delight. 58 chopped Bug. 2234 CC) Paired up with David. I lost low gear on the burnout. Launched in Second and needless to say David put me on the trailer. I've been wondering what ever happened to my old car lately and your thread has made me want to try and find the old car. So the search will begin. I don't know whether to thank you or shoot ya. Time will tell. LOL

This is a list of cars that I worked on or drove during that time frame:

Gotcha
Gotcha Too
Gotcha Again
All owned by Wayne Barrett The Buggy Shop Killeen, TX

Velvet Touch
Owned by Chief Stroud San Antonio, Tx, originally out of Florida

Senior Bicho
Owned by Curly Brehm, High Performance Mfg. and Dist. San Antonio, Tx. A one piece fiberglass body AHRA Bug

Devils Delight
Owned and built by me.1420 lb with me in it. 84mm Scat flange X 92mm (Sort of) 6" Scat Chevy jornal rods.  Heads were a set of Pat's prototypes redone by Johnny Bridges with angle port exhaust. Will have to tell you about those someday.
 Best # 11:21 119.6 mph. Ran at Little River Dragstrip in 1981.

Would love to visit with you sometime. I''m in the Houston area twice a month. Shoot me a pm with your contact info if you want to get together.

Looking forward to the rest of this thread and thanks for the visit down memory lane.

Richard

here's the saturday night fever  ;) i've a color picture but don't fund this one ,will post when i will find it
 ;)
fabs

I've been wondering what ever happened to my old car lately and your thread has made me want to try and find the old car. So the search will begin. I don't know whether to thank you or shoot ya. Time will tell. LOL

Richard, thanks for the posting.  Besides David, you're one of the few I've had contact with that was around back then. 

If you find it and don't want to restore it, send it my way.  I'm already thinking on to my next project and you get to save your bullets, also easier on my health!

PM on the way.

Welcome to The Lounge Richard  ;)

This weekend, we installed the rear deck lid and the pins.  Also in the pic, you can see the battery on/off switch.
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We also we took the Stuttgart off the jack stands.  Without the engine installed, it's sitting a little high in the rear, but we wanted to put it on the ground to measure for fabrication of our wheelie bars.  You guys may remember the original rear shock mounts were modified, so we also measured between the mounting points, to search for some suitable shocks.  

I guess we can call it a "roller" now.
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Here's Brian standing beside the Stuttgart.  It helps give some perspective to the photo.
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On the engine front, Les Fryar is working on our motor.  He's at the point of getting the pushrods cut to length and having eyebrows cut in the pistons, for valve clearance.  He ran into a little problem getting the installed valve heights where he wants them, but looks like he's now got it covered and the final engine build should be taking place next week.  He promised photos of the engine as it's being assembled.

Richard made the trip to Baytown.  He remembered quite a bit about the Stuttgart and we visited for about two hours.  Away from VWs for about 30 years, he left our place and promptly bought a VW drag car the next day.  We have discussed trying to get a group together to do some gasser type VW racing around Texas.  Hopefully, we can get something going later in 2012.

I decided to see if I could find his old car and got extremely lucky.  Two days later, I found out where the car is located and the name of the current owner.  That'll be a future story, maybe, if we can somehow get the owner to turn loose of it.

Les is starting to make some progress on our engine.  He has received the pistons back from the machine shop and has hand massaged the eyebrows.  These 30 year old pistons are starting to look fairly decent.
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With our rods being porsche length, the rod caps were rubbing on the opposing piston wrist pin bosses, so he radiused the rod caps on our connecting rods.
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This thing has been together and apart about three times, but it's now ready for the final assembly.
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The short block is now together, and he was going to install the pistons and cylinders, but our new rings are not giving us the end gaps we want.  We'll get some more this next week and see if we can make some noise by the weekend.
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Everything is looking great Bill ----- I think sometimes you are a trouble maker, getting these old guys back into VW's LOL

Hey Fiatdude

I got your old timer   

LOL

Not to hijack Bill's thread, but it was great rehashing the old memory's with Bill. I couldn't believe he found my old car so quick, with it underground for almost thirty years. I started looking about six months too late, as the currant owner just bought it in Aug of 2011. It had been stored in a garage all this time. Except for the Original Deano Spun alum wheels missing, It looks exactly as I sold it years ago. I'm amazed how well the paint looks after all this time.




Looking forward to Bill's next update on the Express

Richard

Fiatdude, you may be right and I can accept the abuse (please don’t hurt me too much) for getting Richard back into VW’s, but it’s probably been an underlying itch he’s had for some time.  I’ve had that itch every time I’ve cleaned out my VW parts and projects over the years.  That’s why I’m still doing it today.  It’s better to cure the itch than live with it.

The overall VW drag racing scene has been on the decline in Texas for some time.  If I get the blame for trying to keep it alive, I can live with that.  Passionate people like Richard are what our sport needs today. 

And.........now i go looking for more victims.  One of my next ones is a good friend of mine.  He used to race v-8's, switched to VW's and is now back to the V-8's.

Good news from Les today.  He has received our second set of rings and the CB 650 valve springs.  Looks like a road trip will be necessary this weekend.  If all goes well, we should be bringing the 2180 back to Baytown on Sunday afternoon.

Well???????? Did you bring the beast home?

I arrived at Les' on Friday night.  We talked a bit and started in on the engine Saturday morning.  With the heads not bolted down yet, we got another look and the valve reliefs in our NPR 92's.  The pistons are set at .010" down in the barrel.  With our copper head gaskets, Les calculated the compression at about 12.6 to 1.  Might be a bit much for the NPR's, but we don't intend to stretch this engine out, drag racing.  Another engine is in the planning stages, when we want to get serious with the nostalgia events that are getting quite popular across the states.
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Les had some Autocraft Pro rockers in his stash.  He had used these previous in his VW pro stock engine, before going to a Jessel style set-up.  On our engine these rockers worked out to about 1.43 which gave us around .575" lift with our Engle cam.  The spring pockets had been flycut in our heads and he had problems with the spring installed height.  Les had some spare retainers that he took to a local machine shop and they milled the underside flat, at the same time enlargening the hole to fit the guide boss and machining down the inner step to keep the inner spring from coil bind.  Installing these newly machined "spacers" upside down, he was able to install our CB 650 springs at CB's miminum recommended height of 1.51.
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After setting up the rockers, we installed our "VW" stamped valve covers, deep sump, and completed the top end.  Without finding some vintage linkage as of yet, we opted for the Bugpack center pull kit.  We installed a Bugpack vent tower, just for engine run-in.  Our homemade vent stand will replace it when we get the engine back to Baytown.
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Moving on into Sunday morning, we had to make a road trip to procure some oil hoses and a few fittings to get our engine ready to run.  
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At this point we took the engine off the build stand and installed our wedgemated flywheel.  When DPR does a wedgemate, they provide the shim pack for endplay.  It's a good thing Les questioned the shim pack.  We found that someone had included a wrong shim and our set would have set the flywheel up too tight.  We measured several in our stash, until finding the one we wanted.  

With the flywheel installed, it was now time to install the engine on our "run stand".  This is something we built several years ago to run the oval track engines, before installing them in the cars.  The stand is self contained with battery, fuel tank, fuel pump and tach.  Obviously we didn't need the coil, but it was already there, used on our other engines in the past.  Before trying to start the engine, we set the float levels on our carbs.
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After filling the engine with some Brad Penn 20-50, we cranked the engine over until we had a sustained 38 psi on the oil gage.  At that, we attempted to fire the engine and after getting enough fuel in the Webers, it came to life.  We ran it several times for about 5-10 minutes each, checking the temperature at the spark plugs with a lazer gun to not overheat the cylinder heads.  Each time we allowed the engine to cool and checked the spark plugs.  The jetting was changed each time to get more color in the plugs,  this thing seems to want lots of fuel.  During one cool down, we checked the cylinder cranking pressure and came up with every cylinder between 210 and 220.

Engine sounded nice off idle, but seemed to have a stumble at idle, so I left the engine there and made the three hour trip back to Baytown.  On Monday, Les believes he found part of our problem.  When running the engine, he could turn both air correction screws all the way in on one of the carbs and the engine never stumbled.  Looking at that carb, he noticed that one of the butterflys looked to be off center and was open more that the others.  He's corrected the butterfly and says it looks a lot better now, but we wont know until we run it again.

He also caught a mistake I made.  Thinking I had installed 40mm venturis in the carbs, seems I had grabbed two 40's and two that were not 40's.....OOPS.  We've now ordered some more carb parts and a complete set of 40 venturis.  If the parts make it to us by the end of this week, we'll take off and visit with Les some more, hopefully to bring the engine home.  

hurry up already with the "STUTTGART EXPRESS",geez I need someone to drive this next year and tell me how to make it go fast !!!!!!!!

We received our 40mm vents and new accelerator pump rollers on Thursday, (a big thanks to JayCee and Berg Int. for the two day delivery) so we set out for Riesel Texas on Friday morning.  After installing our parts, we gave the engine another try, but it still seemed to not be hitting on the 1-2 cylinders at idle.  Another thing we knew to be a problem was our timing.  With none of us working with a magneto for several years, we were at a loss as to how to get it timed correctly.  We'll get back to that topic later.  

We swapped sides of the engine with the carbs and the problem followed the carb to 3-4, so we knew it was the carb.  Another compression check showed we still had 210-220 across all four cylinders.  The day was getting short, and with a four hour drive ahead of us, we loaded up the engine and brought the engine run-in stand with us.  That way we could continue to run the engine without installing it in the car.
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Today, I went to the shop with the intention of replacing that carb with a spare one from our stash.  Not wanting to give up, I started by taking out the plugs just below the air correction screws and by sticking a small drill bit through the transition holes, noticed that the butterflys on the two carbs were not in the same location in relationship to the holes.

WOW, somewhere along the way, the butterflys on the 1-2 carb had been adjusted shut!  After adjusting the idle screws, so all four butterflys were the same, I fired the engine and Wa.......la, it was fixed.  I don't remember how many times we took this poor carb apart.

We made the decision to replace the starter bushing in the bell housing and thankfully so.  Upon knocking the old one out, it fell on the floor in two pieces.  Now we know why the starter shaft felt a bit loose.  After bolting up our Kennedy Stage 1 pressure plate and 4-puck clutch disc, the engine is now installed.  The Porsche length connecting rods kept our engine narrow enough, that it shouldn’t be a problem to get to the air correction screws on the IDA’s.
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The fuel lines are just to mock up the hoses.  Final hoses will be Teflon braided ss with the crimp on ends.  Anodized fittings wouldn’t be correct for the period, and current NHRA rules do not allow but 12” of rubber fuel line on the entire car, at least that’s the way I interpreted the rule book.  The abrupt 90 degree turns will be replaced with 90’s with radius bends.  As you may have noticed, our vent stand has made it back from the powder coater.
Since the shock mounts had been changed on the inner spring plates at some point in the last 30 years, we revised the lower mounts and bolted up our new adjustable Koni’s.
Our “Herrod Helper”, original to the car, was powder coated black.  That way we wouldn’t have to worry about scratching off the paint, and it has now been installed.
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We've started fabricating our wheelie bars.  From the photos, it's hard to tell exactly how the early bars were built for the Stuttgart.  I'm sure wheelie bars were built several different ways, back in the 70's, so we'll just try and keep them simple.
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We finished up the wheelie bar fabrication.  We set the bars at 24" long with the wheels approximately 5" off the ground.  The old gassers were known to get the front wheels up, and ours should allow the front end to get up one to two feet, or so during the launch.  
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We've received the bars back from the coater; they call the color "anodized silver clear".  
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We won't have to look at the rusty header very much longer.  Our 1 5/8" Four-Tuned is getting ceramic coated black.  Hopefully it will be back by the weekend.  Also we touched base with the hose company and they are still waiting on some fittings to be received, for our fuel lines.

So we decided to start the install on the front headlights.  The original headlights on the Stuttgart were landing lights, I believe off of a Piper Cub airplane and were siliconed into the front end.  When we received the car, it had headlight rings attached to the front end and then the headlights were glued to the rings with a silicone material.  Not wanting any screws to show on the ourside, we decided to glue the head light rings into the front end with an epoxy material.

Sometime this week, we'll complete the install of the front lights.
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Looking at the bottom of the front end, you may see how the Plum Krazy Purple reacts differently when exposed to sun light.

Big came over last Saturday and started out by rubbing on the body.  Being an old paint and body man (he's currently an estimator for an insurance company), he really knew how to clean up the finish.
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While he was busy at the front of the car, we went about installing our coated exhaust.  PolyDyn really did a nice job, they coated our exhaust inside, as well as outside.
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We attempted to install the head lights on Saturday, but we just weren't having much luck.  So I called another friend, Randy Aston, and he came over on last Sunday and decided we needed to hang the front end, with the nose down, so the weight of the bulb would keep the light in the ring until the silicone dried.  We installed both lights and let them sit for three days.  
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On Wednesday, Brain helped reinstall the front end and I went about getting the lights wired.  We have light!
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This past Friday, I made a trip my the local hydraulic hose store and acquired our oil hoses and some vent lines.  This also allowed us to mount the oil filter.
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We then changed out the carb center linkage to the vintage one we had acquired late last year.
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Next came the mounting of the engine support bar.  We drilled some holes in the rear bumper support bracing (the original was mounted this way), and after cleaning up the bar, installed it with some new bolting.
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Our rear apron is now mounted and, after adjusting the rear brakes and tightening up the brake lines at the rear, we're much closer to finishing the project.  Looks like we're only one to two weeks from the finish line.

I'm happy to report, we've marked the last item off our list, the car is done!  I want to thank all who have followed the restoration process and also those who have offered words of advice and encouragement. 

The Williams family and extended members of the original Stuttgart Express crew have not yet seen any of these pictures of the build or the final product.  We are all meeting at the "Texas Classic" in Frederecksberg, Texas on April 22.  This will involve Glens brother and the brothers wife, his two daughters and their families, the son of the original person who did the welding, Ollie Ottens son (who worked at Glens shop and managed it after Glens passing) and, with Fredericksberg being near San Antonio, we hope to make some new friends with some of the people who may remember the car.

We are checking the calendars and also plan to race the car at some of the Nostalgia events in the Texas area.  Who knows, we're considering a 1900 mile trip to Sacramento, California this coming September.  We're going to the VW Pro Stock race anyway so we may take the car.....always wanted to go to Cali and take a bug.  That would be one more thing off the "bucket list".

I shall update this thread with pictures of the "Classic" when we get back home.  It should be a fairly good car show and swap meet.  We went two years ago and there were over 300 vw's there.

Again, thanks to all who have commented and those who have just followed our rebuilding process, for your interest in the restoration of the Stuttgart Express.

Bill Stipe

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Great job Bill.
Congrats !
Do you come with car at the VW Classic in june ?

Thanks for the interest.  A June trip may be in the cards but I don't see us making two trips to Califormia, not with the price of diesel going up every day.  I wasn't sure when or where the VW Classic was held.  Hmmmm, we could bring car to VW Classic and just fly to Sacramento, in September.  We'll have to throw that idea into the mix (it involves more people than just me).

good job bill , car looks nice , ,she's finished now???

rgd
fabs

Yes, the car is finished. 

We will be making some additions; still looking for the correct fan blower for the engine, things such as that.  We are going to need help with someone who knows fan blowers for different type trucks and autos from the 60's and 70's time period.

For racing, we may add a line lock and change out the front tires to some current style "front runners".  I figure we need to start buying some extra tranny parts, as the type 1 transaxle will break sooner or later.

Bill I will be flying into Houston on Sunday 22nd are you passing through back to Baytown on Sunday night or Monday, would love to see the car up close, pity I didn't know the meet was on Sunday as I get in at 2pm in the afternoon.

Well done on getting another old gasser back together.

Russell, you have PM.

I was fortunate enough to see the Stuttgart Express in its newly restored condition with my own eyes today at the Texas Classic.
I was very impressed! Bill and his crew really went overboard with their stunning attention to detail and archival correctness.
And being the great guy he is, Bill gave me a personal tour of the car, front to back!
On a personal note, I can truly appreciate the outstanding work put into this restoration as I have many memories of seeing the car in action down south at Alamo Dragway during Saturday races and multiple AHRA National events when Glenn owned it.
The car, its performance and team stuck out then, and it continues with Bill's inspiring dedication put into this fine project.
Better still is knowing there's a group of people that were brought together through the amazing research and work that resulted in a second family for them all.
GREAT JOB, BILL!!!

TxT

Sweet

nice job bill , very nice car  8)

Car looks phenomenal, you should be very proud of what you have done.   ;D

TxTom, once again, it was very good to see you.  I guess it has been 2 years ago, at the Texas Classic.  Thank you for the appreciation of our project.  I was very humbled by your posting.  Thank you for including the very nice photos.  Your camera work is astounding.
 
It was my honor to welcome Russell to Baytown this past Monday.  The minute we met, I immediately felt we have very much in common.  Along with the rest of the VW community, we have a passion for the preservation of our sport and hobby.  We spent about an hour and a half discussing, not only the Stuttgart Express, but the rest of the VW scene, as well.  The visit was way too short, due to a business engagement he had, later that evening.

Russell, you’re always welcome in Baytown and hopefully we’ll see each other again on your next visit to Texas.

To Mike, Micke, Fabs and the rest of the Loungers, thanks again for your interest in our project.  Your words of encouragemnet have been well received.

I hear that the Stuttgart Express may be blowing off some steam at Prairie Hill Dragway in central Texas this Saturday night... 8)

Test & Tune @ Prairie Hill Dragway - Sat PM 8/5 (http://www.speedshots.net/tvwdra/forum/index.php?topic=1881.0)

Guess I've been really late in undating the thread.  The first outing for the car was at the Texas Classic in Fredericksburg, Texas.  With the main show of the Classic on Sunday, we traveled over there on Saturday and met Glens daughters Michelle & Minka, Glens brother Lee Williams & his wife, along with Thomas Otten.  

Far left, that's Michelle in the purple and Thomas Otten, the tall guy in the white shirt.  He used to take the Express for some testing, in front of Glens shop, back in the day.  
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Lee Williams and "Big" having a chat.
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The (Sunday) show really didn't compare with seeing these guys faces, although we met several people that had seen the car, back in the 70's.  My pictures do not compare with those of Texas Tom, but my cell phone camera doesn't compare with his camera.  

My grandson opening the door with Big and Brian on the left, and Lee Williams on the right.

And another meeting with a great friend, Randy Larsen. 
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Two weeks ago, Lee Williams was in Houston on some family business and came by our shop. 

The first time he has sat in the car in 31 years.  I can only imagine what he was thinking when I told him to flip the switches and start it up.
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We have taken the car to two VW shows, since the Classic, but those days are over.  We have replaced the front tires with some M&H front runners and replaced the 4-puck clutch disc with a Black Magic.  Last Saturday, we took the car to Longs Tire, in Baytown, for some alignment.
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That brings me to Eric's post.  We are going to Prairie Hill Dragway on Saturday.  It is located just a few miles from where Les lives.  It is an eighth mile track located at an old WW2 air force base.  David Crow, who raced against the Stuttgart Express in the 70's, is going to make some shake down runs.

Do you think that anyone in Mart, Texas on Saturday night might be able to take a photo or two? ;)

Good luck bill with the race, can't wait to see it in sow track shots.

Russell

This is great Bill!

The Stuttgart Express is a race car again!  We met David Crow at Prairie Hill Dragway yesterday evening, the "we" being myself, Brian, Larry and his son Mike, Lee & his wife....... and Les.  

As I had said earlier, Prairie Hill Dragway is an old WW2 airstrip, located a little southeast of Waco, Texas.  David first took the Express down one of the landing strips, not used, to check out the feel of the car.  Immediately, we knew we had a jetting problem and spent about an hour getting it close.
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David also reported the rear drum brakes were not stopping very well, but were "burning in".  They continued to get better as the night went along.

It was now time for David to strap in and attempt a first pass.
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All total, we made three test runs.  After the first, Brian lowered the wheelie bars, but we eventually raised them back up.  One thing Brain discovered, the old school wheelie bars cause excessive squat when they make contact with the track.  Like I had heard, they actually unload the chassis, when they hit the track.
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Remember, this is old school racing.  No two-step, no line lock, no rev limiter, just "seat of the pants" racing. The first 1/8 mile run was a 7.37, followed with a 7.39 and a 7.38.  Wow, three runs within two hundredths of each other.  David Crow hasn't lost his touch.  That 7.37 converts to about an 11.53 +/- quarter mile.

With the best record run for the Express a 11.29, we're not that far off.  We have a long "wish list" for some revisions to the car, but we won't do anything that takes away from this being an "old school gasser".

FYI, we have some more pictures and a couple of "phone camera" videos.  We will have to figure out how to post the videos.

Hi Bill,

thanks for sharing the pictures. I've been watching this thread from the beginning, all I can say is well done to all of your team!

Guess you had a good birthday party then...

Saludos,
Ole

congrats bill , it's nice to see the car running again   ;)

What about the guy with the cool minibike and real camera? ;D

Wow, I'm going to blame it on my old age.  How could I have missed Eric Ellis attending the first runs for the Express, and a round trip of 190 miles to do so.  

Eric I do apologize for the misstep.  Your presence was greatly appreciated and the initial photos look killer.

Here's a couple of photos Eric took.  This one, we're helping Mr. Crow strap in for the first run.
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And making the burnout.  I can't wait to see more of the shots Eric took.
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No worries or apology necessary, Bill! I was just kidding - always fun to talk smack among friends.

The trip to Paririe Hill was well worth the drive. It great to hang out with everyone and see Pappy Crow make the (reborn) maiden voyage down the strip.

Your car looks even better in person - you've done a awesome job on the restoration. I could tell that everyone in your pit area was proud, as they should be.

Lots more pics to follow...

As promised, here are a bunch of the pics that I took at Prairie Hill Dragway (http://www.prairiehilldragway.com) on Saturday August 4th.

I've heard about Prairie Hill for a number of years, but had never been there, despite the fact that it was only ~1.5 hours from my house. Now I know that I've been missing out, as the track is very cool and laid back, as are the people that I met/saw there.

A few months ago my long time friend, David "Pappy" Crow told me that Bill Stipe had asked him to make shakedown passes of the newly reborn Stuttgart Express at Prairie Hill later in the year. When the guys decided on a date for running the car, I was excited that I was going to be able to make the trip and shoot some photos.

David is 71 years young and I think that he's been building and racing Volkswagens for longer than I've been around. He used to run a VW in the A/Modified Compact class with the AHRA back in the day, with a very cool and record setting black '67 that he still owns and races. He's also got a killer Pro Stock Karmann Ghia that some of you may know (bright yellow with a hood scoop).

On to the pics!

American Hotrod Association (AHRA) K/Gas

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/1.jpg)

Prairie Hill is an old airfield with two long runways that are positioned at ~45 degree angles to each other (I think). One of the runways is used for 1/8 and 1/4 mile drag racing, while the other is used by racers to warm up their cars and make short test passes. The next couple of shots show the Stuttgart Express crew making changes to the car after David did a little testing.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/2.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/3.jpg)

IIRC, this is a 2180cc motor that Les Fryar built with a bunch of period correct go-fast parts. It looks and runs great.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/4.jpg)

David Crow and Lee Williams. Lee is Glen Williams brother and the original builder of the Stuttgart Express. It was so cool to meet Lee and listen to the stories that he told about the car.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/5.jpg)

Pappy and his famous cowboy hat (no, everyone in Texas does not wear these, drive Cadillacs with steer horns on the front, or have oil wells in their back yard ;D)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/6.jpg)

Getting ready to make another test run down the secondary strip, as Lee watches.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/7.jpg)

This car is spotless and super detailed, inside and out!

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/8.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/9.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/10.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/11.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/12.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/14.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/13.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/15.jpg)

Gotta' love a chop top gasser!

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/18.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/17.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/16.jpg)

Getting buckled up to make the first past after rebirth. David had said that he was going to take it easy and see how things felt once he got going a little faster.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/19.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/20.jpg)

The first burnout, with proud papa Bill Stipe in the background

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/21.jpg)

Wheels up! (this doesn't look like an easy pass to me ;D - it was a solid 7.37 eighth mile pass) I hate that I missed this shot - it's my fault for not first checking with the starter and knowing where I could shoot from, and scrambling to move from the return road in front of the car, to a decent spot on track behind it.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/24.jpg)

Nose down now, but that's soon to change...

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/22.jpg)

Vroom, vroom!

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/23.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/25.jpg)

Pappy - minus the hat and Volkswagen

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/26.jpg)

Cool down and wheelie bar adjustment

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/27.jpg)

A (wrenching) father and son moment ;D

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/28.jpg)

Smoke 'em if you've got 'em! (http://cal-look.no/lounge/Themes/babylon/images/post/thumbup.gif)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/29.jpg)

David and Lee talk about favorite recipies, while Bill gets dirty ;)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/30.jpg)

Fiddin' to do it again

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/31.jpg)

Wheelie bars adjusted as high as they'd go this time, to prevent the excessive squat that they were causing. I hoped for a sky high launch and an attempt to make up for my earlier missed shot, but that didn't happen this time.

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/32.jpg)

The gang's all here - Stuttgart Express crew

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/33.jpg)

Wow, very cool, great to see it on the strip where it belongs!

waouww nice pictures Eric , and very cool car

iI find that this photo looks like in one of in the hot vws  report ;)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/32.jpg)

 ;)

Thanks Fabian, and good idea! (http://cal-look.no/lounge/Themes/babylon/images/post/thumbup.gif)

Here's a slightly different take, with some aging added to 2012 Stuttgart Express, along with the vintage pic for comparison:

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/Stuttgart_Express_1970s.jpg)

(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f346/57hotrodvw/VW/Stuttgart_Express/Stuttgart_Express_2012.jpg)

That is just all kinds of cool!  ;)

......WOW...  seeing this really brings back some fond memories for me personally from the early days. Congrats to you for the incredible" massaging" in bringing back an old relic of VW racing..!! Nice shots by that Eric dude/(grin)LOL...  Nice to see some of the old farts get some deserved recognition ...after all, we aint gettin' any younger... Thanks Bill and may you continue with the others to enjoy this finished piece of VW racing history.  Peace out/Dyno Don

Wow Bill! What a history lesson and fantastic build diary of this unique Texas VW gasser. I am only sorry to have not seen this thread until your email this morning. Again... Wow!

This thread should be on top, all the time, for everyone to see. Or, on second thought, if there were two or three more threads of this amazing relevance and quality, I'd be out of a job today.

Amazing car! Please let us know more, whenever it hits the strip.

Awesome job on a VERY COOL project!!!

As you might have noticed in the preceding pictures, our rear suspension was squatting quite a bit so we replaced our stock rear torsion bars with some 26mm Sway A Way’s.  With my job getting the way of doing much traveling the remainder of last year and, we decided to take the car to the Houston Autorama, a large indoor, annual Thanksgiving car show, just for something to do.  We must say, the car was well received and garnered a bit of attention.

In April of 2013, we went to a Nostalgia drag race in Sealy, Texas, a few miles west of Houston.  This was a 1/4 mile event, but we were greeted with a cross wind of about 20 mph.
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After our first time trial, we decided to treat the event as a “test and tune” session.  The car launched nicely, but with the shocks not having any dampening effect, we were getting wheelies in first, second and (sometimes) third gear which made us a hit with the spectators.
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With the wind blowing as it was, and the front shocks not doing their job, we were lifting after every gear shift, to settle the car.  Our 1/8 mile times were in the 7.40’s.
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For our next outing, it was decided to go to the Indy VW Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.  After a 1,030 mile trip (one way), we woke up in Indianapolis with 45 degree temps and a fine mist of rain. 
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As the weather cleared a bit, we decided to start the car to get the engine warm.  That’s when we discovered that the gearbox wouldn’t shift.  We must have broken the hockey stick on our last run at Sealy, although the car was started (and shifted) a few times in the shop, before we left for Indy.
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We found a hockey stick in the swap meet and went about pulling the engine and trans.  We barely made it to the staging lanes as they were closing “time trials”.  The car launched well, went for second gear, and we found that second gear was broken.

Upon getting home, we pulled the gearbox and found that the welds had broken where the dog was welded to the second gear hub.  It was a used gear and we had gotten 10 runs out it, but there’s no telling how many runs it really had been through.

With a repaired gearbox, we took a trip back to Prairie Hill to test the gearbox and clutch.  We no sooner did the burnout, and David shut the car off telling of an “engine knock”.  It turned out to be #2 rod bearing.  Upon getting the crank and rods to the machine shop, it was thought that all the bearing clearances had been too tight. 

Another thing of note, we had noticed that after the initial engine build, we had a couple of cylinders that were getting oil on the spark plugs.  We had a Total Seal gapless second ring, but the top and oil rings were Grants so it was decided to replace those with some standard Total Seals. 
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The engine was started at Les’ on a Friday morning and we just had time to sync the Webers, as we had to load up the car for a nostalgia race on Saturday.

The nostalgia drag race was in Denton, Texas.   It was an 1/8 mile event.
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Our first time trial netted us a new best of 7.32.  A different set of front shocks were doing a much better job of controlling the car at speed.  The bad thing was, our Black Magic clutch disc was slipping too much.  Our thinking is the new ring package was sealing better against our old NPR cylinders, netting in a horsepower increase, thus the previous setting on the Black Magic clutch disc was too light and there wasn’t enough down time to address the clutch, so we were stuck with what we had.  
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As you may see, the bite was great but our slipping clutch wouldn't even pull the front tires off the ground.  Our second time trial improved to a 7.28, so we were fairly delighted.
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In the first round of eliminations, we hit the tree too aggressively and red lit, but all was not lost as we ran our new personal best of 7.21 @ 93.7 mph, in 98 degree temperatures.  

With the clutch adjusted, we thought we'd go for another test session at Prairie Hill Dragway this past weekend.  We managed to get one run before the skies opened and the rains came.  Unfortunately the clutch was still slipping a bit too much.  I had not shimmed the clutch enough to make a difference, but we equaled our best e.t. of 7.21 and upped the mph to 95.58.

This time we've tightened the clutch quite a bit and we’re planning to take a trip to Ardmore, Oklahoma (another 1/8 mile event) and compete in a nostalgia gasser class at the “Hot Rod Reunion”.  With our slipping clutch, our 60’ times have been off almost a tenth, so we’re hoping for some 7-teens.  More updates to follow.

nice to have some news Bill

here're a few old shot of the stuttgart  ;D ;D
enjoy

We just got back from Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Would I say it was hot?  104 degrees when we got there on Friday evening.  Thank goodness it cooled to the lower 90's when we made a test run for the Saturday event.  And..........we were rewarded with a NEW personal best, 7.17 @ 94.9 mph.  
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But as our luck seems to run, the temperature on Saturday went to 101 degrees.  With the rubber being layed down, and the temp, the clutch was hooking up too hard.  It's looking like some wheelie bars are in our future.

nice to see that car runnig hard

well done Bill, keep it going.... ;D

Thanks guys for the comments.  Car does seem to be running good.  This is still our old school 2180, but with a better piston ring package.  The one thing we're having problems with is the Black Magic clutch.  It's either too loose or too tight.  When we have a sticky track, it is either slipping or tight, depending on where we set the rolling torque.  We could try some type of hydraulic clutch management, but I don't want to do that to an Old School Gasser.  Wheel stands are good photo opportunities and great crowd pleasers, but with the car launching so hard, we feel we need to add a set of wheelie bars and see if we can get down the track when it gets so hot and sticky.
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This past weekend, we went to Crandall, Texas to run Super Pro brackets.  It was a low turn-out, not being advertised well and a nasty rain storm that came thru the area, the night before.  Dallas Raceway is a really nice facility with concrete everywhere.  The starting line, and track, were well prepared.  The ECPRA Pro Stocks were also in attendance.

We had acquired some used wheelie bars and cleaned them up.  Our first time trial was unattractive at a 7.24, well off our lowest e.t. of 7.17, but we decided to just run the car and figure out a "dial in" for eliminations.  After the engine cooled down, our second time trial was a shot in the arm, as the car launched a little bit left, but with the bars putting the front end back on the ground, we were able to get the car going straight again, and were rewarded with a new personal best of 7.08..........WOW.

We ran a 7.13 on our 7.10 dial for a first round win.  For the second round, we ran a 7.11 on a dial of 7.10, but left a bit too early and red lit.  All in all, a good day as we had won our first round of eliminations, ran a new personal best and seem to be finding some consistency.  

We don't have any other races planned for this year, so this winter we'll pull the engine down, look at the bearings and change the valve springs.  We may replace the cylinders, as well.  With our new goal of running a 6 second 1/8 mile, we're thinking about a camshaft change.
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We attempted our first event of 2014 in May.  We traveled to north Texas to compete at Nostalgia Nationals event in Grand Prairie Texas.  
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Over the winter we had changed out the old 92mm NPR pistons for some Wiseco's with a really thin ring package.  At the same time we bumped the compression ratio to 14.25.  
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Our first time trial was uneventful but we now have a new personal best.  The Stuttgart ran a 7.011 @ 96.15 miles per hour.   Oh so close to that elusive 6 second 1/8 mile run.  Unfortunately we found a cylinder head gasket leak just before eliminations, so we called it a day.    
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Nice! Yellow Belly Dragstrip, eh? Good thing you were there during the daylight hours...  ;)

Let me know the next time that you and Pappy Crow are in the DFW area, as I'd love to hang out and see the car run again.

--Eric

Old glories never dies!

Congrats for the PB, those 6sec are not that far now  ;)

You bet Eric, day time is the only time!  We'll try to get in touch when we get up that way again. 

J-F, thanks for the encouragement, and yes, hopefully that 6 will happen soon.

Wow, it's been quite some time since I've posted.  We still have the Stuttgart Express and have been running it as time permits.  We’re still running our 2180 engine but last year, we ran into a head problem.  Seems at 14-1 compression, our original VW cylinder heads were warping quite a bit, so we ordered a set of CB 044 CNC heads.  About the same time, we had the 48 IDA's upgraded by Jaycee and changed the case to 10mm Racewear studs.  
We finally hit that elusive six second run during a testing session late in 2015 when we ran a 6.93 @ 95.45 mph.  A huge thanks goes out to Les Fryar for a great engine build and David Crow for tuning and driving the car. 

During this past winter, it was decided to add an aftermarket mainshaft and spool to our original gearbox and put it back in the car.  This trans has a lower third and fourth gear.  Our first outing in 2016 was a few weeks ago at the Nostalgia Nationals near Temple, Texas.
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Our first qualifying run lowered our best time to 6.87 and then we hit a 6.83 on our second run.
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 Our elimination run would reward us with a new personal best of 6.79 @ 98.74 mph.
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nice to heard some great news about the car and you bill
 ;)

Noce launch on the last pic!well done Bill  ;)