Restoring the "Stuttgart Express"

[esabataj]

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

[esabataj]

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.

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

[bill stipe]

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.

[esabataj]

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?

[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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.  

[racinbug53]

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 !!!!!!!!

[bill stipe]

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.

[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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.

[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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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[bill stipe]

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.

[bill stipe]

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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[IP359]

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

[bill stipe]

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).

[speedwell]

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

rgd
fabs

[bill stipe]

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.

[Russell]

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.

[bill stipe]

Russell, you have PM.

[TexasTom]

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

[Micke H]

Sweet

Code:

[speedwell]

nice job bill , very nice car 

[Fritter]

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

[bill stipe]

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.

[Eric Ellis (57HotrodVW)]

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

Test & Tune @ Prairie Hill Dragway - Sat PM 8/5

[bill stipe]

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.

[bill stipe]

And another meeting with a great friend, Randy Larsen. 
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