The White Knuckle Ride 1965 VW Karmann Ghia

[Mike Lawless]

No longer for sale

[Cornpanzer]

Wow!
That must be a tough call.
Hate to see you separated. 

[richie]

Wow, i never thought I would see this Mike.

I want to add good luck with the sale,I am sure you have your reasons to sell one of the best,if not the best street & strip Ghias offered for sale with such a unique history.a beautifull car that anyone should be proud to own

cheers richie

[glenn]

Wow, Mike, can't believe you're gonna sell it. That car is a piece of history.

Whoever gets it will be a lucky person.

[Mike Lawless]

Thanks guys. I bought the car in August of 1998 and I've never owned another car as long as I've owned this one. I've made around 1000 runs down the track in it. I've taken it as far as I wanted to go with it, and for me it's all about the journey. They say that hot rods are never really "done." But for me, this one is. I have arrived at the destination, and now it's time to start a new journey.
This car will always have a special spot in my memories along with everyone I've met along the way. Hopefully someone will get as much enjoyment as we've gotten with it.

[.]

I really hate to see you part with this car Mike !
Might there be another VW project in the near future ?

[Greg G]

Mike, the only thing that makes this seem ok, is the possibilit of a new project. I can't wait to see what it will be.

You have brought this car a long way from the winning DRKC car on street tires.

Greg G

[TexasTom]

Go Mike, GO!!!

Good luck with the sale ... What a Car!
 
TxT

[Mike Lawless]

Thanks for all the compliments guys.
I've revised the ad a bit to allow its sale without engine. It would be very easy for someone to install a street-able motor as it has a fuel system easily compatible with a carbureted engine.

If it doesn't sell, we'll continue on with it. Maybe I'll have to rethink my "No Turbo" stance in that case.

[richie]

Maybe I'll have to rethink my "No Turbo" stance in that case.

Now this idea I like    I am sure you could fabricate something that didnt detract from the car at all and allowed you chase the v8s down.instead of them chasing you

cheers richie

[Fiatdude]

I know you have always looked down on us Boost Dudes as cheaters Mike ---- But your engine, on 20 lbs boost, and NO other changes would be running very low 10's and possibly 9's and would remain very durable. you would just have to modify your high speed by-pass to be boost referenced and you would be golden. Alcohol, high compression, moderate boost is a very nice performance combination and would diffently ratchet up the performance your car and the .. ... uh .. .. skids in your shorts. LOL

[kingsburgphil]

I know you have always looked down on us Boost Dudes as cheaters Mike ---- But your engine, on 20 lbs boost, and NO other changes would be running very low 10's and possibly 9's and would remain very durable. you would just have to modify your high speed by-pass to be boost referenced and you would be golden. Alcohol, high compression, moderate boost is a very nice performance combination and would diffently ratchet up the performance your car and the .. ... uh .. .. skids in your shorts. LOL

I'm pretty sure if Mike leaned on that motor, he'd have to revamp the suspension completely to make it leave to his satisfaction. Did anyone notice that the Strip Dominator heads were short lived?  But like you, I'd love to see Mike and his Ghia turning 9's at the March Meet.
I wonder what a couple of drums of "midnite oil" cost?

[Mike Lawless]

We'll see how it shakes out.

Phil, the strip Dominators were short lived because the car was too heavy and/or undergeared for them. I would had to turn the wick up on the RPM considerably to get full benefit. The logic of a 9500RPM engine that isn't changing records just wasn't there. I had to lean on it hard just to match the numbers it was running with the Comp Es and that's why we switched back. They're a super bitchin' set of heads. They just didn't work on my car without a bunch of other stuff. I wasn't going to cut the car up to make it lighter either.

I started work on a motor during the off season that would take a stout percentage of Nitro, but the case I chose had some tolerance issues. So my long time dream of running nitro will have to wait.

As for the suspension, it's more than stout enough the way it is to take a lot of power. The problem with the suspension right now is that it works too good for a .5 tree. I just couldn't seem to soften it up enough. Frustration has set in due to WAY too many redlights

So what we have is a car that is too heavy to run a NA motor in the 10 second zone where the .4 tree is used. We have a car that reacts too quickly to be competitive on a .5 tree.

As much as I hate to admit it, mild mannered turbo deal would do the trick and probably live longer.

It's come down to selling and building something else, or turbo charge it, or build a tube chassis for it with a big motor up front where it belongs! Something on the order of about 500 cubic inches

[kingsburgphil]

We'll see how it shakes out.

Phil, the strip Dominators were short lived because the car was too heavy and/or undergeared for them. I would had to turn the wick up on the RPM considerably to get full benefit. The logic of a 9500RPM engine that isn't changing records just wasn't there. I had to lean on it hard just to match the numbers it was running with the Comp Es and that's why we switched back. They're a super bitchin' set of heads. They just didn't work on my car without a bunch of other stuff. I wasn't going to cut the car up to make it lighter either.

I started work on a motor during the off season that would take a stout percentage of Nitro, but the case I chose had some tolerance issues. So my long time dream of running nitro will have to wait.

As for the suspension, it's more than stout enough the way it is to take a lot of power. The problem with the suspension right now is that it works too good for a .5 tree. I just couldn't seem to soften it up enough. Frustration has set in due to WAY too many redlights

So what we have is a car that is too heavy to run a NA motor in the 10 second zone where the .4 tree is used. We have a car that reacts too quickly to be competitive on a .5 tree.

As much as I hate to admit it, mild mannered turbo deal would do the trick and probably live longer.

It's come down to selling and building something else, or turbo charge it, or build a tube chassis for it with a big motor up front where it belongs! Something on the order of about 500 cubic inches

Mike, once again I'm guilty of trying to not be long winded (which I'm known for). What I should have said is, your car is so dialed in and the combination works so well that any big change would
probably take a lot of work before it performed to your liking. Case in point the SD heads, or a turbo motor for that matter. As far as I'm concerned your car is the benchmark that many of us strive to match.

 Not to mention the almost old guy cutting those .00 lights.       

[Mike Lawless]

I understand Phil. No worries!

Nothing's set in stone. Someone still might make this car their own. If we end up keeping it and go with turbo power, I would expect a transitional period to get it dialed in.

As for those .00X lights, I been on the minus side of those way too many times and I'm sick to death of giving up the race on redlights. Something has to change. I've tried arguing with the car, but it just won't listen!

[kingsburgphil]

mcmscott and I were just talking about that. How about taller front tires, no trailing arm stops, longer trailing arms, 90/10s or even some stagger? That is assuming you're pulling the wheels out of the lights. I think everyone agrees your car leaves near perfect, maybe going plus or minus .5 inch on the rear wheel width?

Just some thoughts from a couple of railbirds.  

[Jeff68]

Well, I have thouroughly enjoyed (and learned so much) watching you take this beautiful car to the competitive and historic machine that it is today!  Thanks for sharing eveything you've done with it over the years and best of luck with the sale, or if you keep it the continuing evolution of it!
Jeff

[Fiatdude]

I hope I didn't jinx you with that suggestion Mike -- Glad it was Cindi that talked you into it --- I know you will be very happy when your done and it is running

[Mike Lawless]

Yep Cindy can be persuasive! It's officially no longer for sale. We didn't get a single inquiry. It's a lot of money so I'm not really surprised

She wanted to keep it, and I told her what it would take. We needed to be able to compete on a .4 pro tree, so we'd need to step up the performance considerably in order to run in those classes that use a .4 tree (10.60 index). Even a Pat Downs Pro Stock motor would be working hard to get this 1900lb hunk down the track in under 10.6 seconds, and then I couldn't live with the maintenance on that and race as often as I'd want to race.

So, the most practical approach is to hang a huffer onto it.

It'll be fairly basic and also pretty small. It'll need to build boost quickly and be responsive to throttle. It'll stay MFI on methanol, and it WON'T be running in the 9s, (And when I say never, I really mean it.....till goals change again). I don't want to have to go thru the SFI required this and that, getting licensed, cage cert'd or any of that stuff. It''l just need to run 10.60 with a few tenths cushion to get into the proper classes at any venue. Which will solve all the issues that led us to wanting to sell it.

So, new project time. And I don't diddly squat about turbos either. Should be fun!

[Zach Gomulka]

Looking forward to the next chapter

Hope to see you this weekend!

[Fiatdude]

Hilborn makes a killer injector TB about 2.5" opening -- had one on my blower bike -- would suit your single TB plan

Chit I guess they make a ton of them now 30 years later LOL

http://www.hilborninjection.com/category.asp?Id=206

[richie]

Mike

have you considered putting a bottle on it? or would the open comp rules not allow it? just thinking it would be a simpler change,and it seems to work for Troy

cheers richie

[Jeff68]

Best of luck with the next evolution of the White Knuckle Ride!  I'll stay tuned!!

[Mike Lawless]

Thanks for the good words guys!
Richie, nitrous is not allowed at ANRA, the MArch Meet or NHRA Heritage series races. Besides, I ran that stuff back in the late 70's during my street racing days and was always blowing sh!t up! It was pretty primitive as compared to modern set ups. I'd tune it with fuel pressure instead of jet changes. Most systems had a spray bar under the carbs with drilled orifices instead of changable jets. So you monkeyed with fuel pressure to get the tune right. I would lean it out till it would melt the electrode of the plugs on a good run. Back in those days, a street racing "money run" was only one pass anyway, so as long as the thing ran good enough to get home, you were good. It's the reason why I became a big fan of MSD ignitions. It would still fire the plug even though the ground strap was gone!

[Jason Foster]

Yay.

[Ben67]

Wow. For a minute I thought it was April fool. 
Good to hear Mike.  Got thank Cindy next time I see her.

[BeetleBug]

On of my favourite cars out there and I`m glad you decided to keep it. The car and your homepage is very inspiring.

A turbo/methanol/ECU engine will take the car to the 9`s and the question is only how deep into the 9`s you want to go. It will be interesting to see what and how you plan to make such a car consistant enough to be competitive and not just a "low ET" car.

Keep on with good work and I look forward to reading your updates.

Best rgs
BB
Norway

[Mike Lawless]

I've never really been about going as fast as I can afford (or can't afford!). My goal has always been winning races. That remains to be to goal with this project. The overall target ET for this will be about 10.20 to 10.30. I have absolutely no desire to get into the 9 second zone as it really ups the buy-in. Once the 9 second threshold has been crossed, a bunch of requirements come into play. Certified cage, renewed every three years, SFI certified parts here and there, also to be replaced at regular intervals, -15 suit, not to mention licensing.

I must admit, I am out of my comfort zone with this and it should prove to be educational to say the least!

Thanks guys!

BTW Harold, I looked at the throttle body you gave me the link to. Looks like just what the doctor ordered! Hilborn also has the "boost enrichment valve" I'll probably need too!

[Fiatdude]

Git-er-Done

[Greg G]

Topping that motor with a turbo is going to be easy.

I'm sure you will be talking to Muffler. His new intake really suprised him.