Restoring the "Stuttgart Express"

[bill stipe]

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.

[speedwell]

nice to have some news Bill

here're a few old shot of the stuttgart 
enjoy

[bill stipe]

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.

[speedwell]

nice to see that car runnig hard

[Russell]

well done Bill, keep it going....

[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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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[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

We attempted our first event of 2014 in May.  We traveled to north Texas to compete at Nostalgia Nationals event in Grand Prairie Texas.  

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.  

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.    

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

[j-f]

Old glories never dies!

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

[bill stipe]

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.

[bill stipe]

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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[speedwell]

nice to heard some great news about the car and you bill
 

[j-f]

Noce launch on the last pic!well done Bill