The eternal rebuild

[Peter Shattock]

All a bit back to front this, more of a built thread than in the works. The reality is that I suspect the car will always be changing so will deserve its place here. With any luck I'll catch up to the current day at some point, then it can be officially be here as an 'In da works' thread.

Part 1

Buying the car all happened thanks to a long time pal of mine Lee Maynard. He got me back into VW's following an enforced absence buying a house which destroyed all my disposable income. Lee introduced me to Ian Clark and collectively we hatched a plan over a cup of tea in Chertsey, to take all the performance parts I'd collected for my long term oval project which was way off completion and put them in a standard car. This being a quick fix to have some fun and finally have a hot VW on the road as the oval was a long way off.

Ian put me in touch with Owen Warlow who had a collection of nice early Swedish cars for sale. The car I bought was not the best of the them, but a happy medium based on price and condition. It was a good solid original car but needed a bit of welding (rear bumper mounts and rear body mounts), all of which was sorted out in quick fashion thanks to another friend Trevor Hickey.
 
The plan was to swap out all the running gear I had in my oval. So I fitted the adjustable aluminium front beam close ratio gearbox, Wildwood disc's brakes and a 2199cc type IV (103x 66) based on a old 1600cc super v engine with a 103 piston kit.
 
The engine was originally built by Stateside Tuning but was rebuilt by Ian Clark as it had been sitting for years. The car went off to Ian's workshop in Woking to fit and run up the motor and the pictures below are taken there.
 
Having been into hot VW's for just about all my driving years finally had one on the road! I had numerous other VW’s but this was the first “hot” one.

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As it turns out this configuration was short lived and the car was never raced like this, but I had some fun driving it on the street all be it briefly.
 
To be continued......
 

[tikimadness]

cool nice to finally read something about your car Peter

cheers Michael

[modnrod]

We need a "popcorn" smiley.
 

[Peter Shattock]

Part 2

So the deal with the Type IV and my original box was that I run it in to check it was all OK as Ian had a customer keen to buy it complete and that's exactly what happened.

This was all part of a plan that would see me buy the old 1776 and gearbox complete from his 52, which meant Ian could then finish his new 1850 and gearbox for the 52.
This suited both of us and for me was a great and cheap short cut to a type 1 12 second wheel standing combination which was what I was after.

I think a lot of ACVW racers start with the aim of, 12's and wheel standing street car. Those with any sense stop there when they achieve it and just enjoy their cars.

So everything swapped over I drove the car home and got used to driving it before racing for the first time at BugJam in 2002. This netted a 13.0 at 100mph best et and speed. This was 0.15 of a second off Ian's previous best of 12.85 which was an obvious target beyond the first 12.

That was my only race in 2002, but I was hooked and plans to race in 2003 were made but 1st I needed a cage and to generally get the car MSA legal.
So early in 2003 the car went off to Jim Smith of Cotsweld for a 6 point cage, seat mounts, window net and harness mounts.

Big Bang was the first race of 2003 not a lot went to plan with a best time of 13.4 so going slower was a bit of a disappointment. So back to the drawing board.

Bugjam 2003 was the next planned outing so a bit more street driving and car prep had me feeling hopeful of going a bit quicker. I now had some slicks on a set of Erco's to replace the BFG street tires I had been running to date which was the big change.

So 1 1st pass my first wheelie, 13.3 99mph. 2nd pass big wheelie 13.1, 99mph. 3rd pass smaller wheelie and my first 12, 12.945 at 100.8mph.

So that's it the storey should end here 12's and wheelies done. Of course that's not the way it works.

2004 was basically more of the same my final race of the year was at the Hot Rod drags. Pete Englezos and I were the only VW’s there, Simon Emery of Paintbox fame managed to sweet talk the NSRA to let us run. As it turns out I was glad he did. After a frustrating day of missed gears which I blamed on a new seat position and shifter the final run of the year netted me a 12.85 at 103mph which was a great way to finish the year with a PB. Also certainly one of my favourite pictures of my car and words in the November 2004 issue of Custom Car in the Hot Rod Drags write up.

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2005 got off to a frustrating start struggling to get the car turning consistent 12's with there being more low 13's than high 12's.

I went to Thorney Island in July with Dave Dinning which is a great old school type race which certainly get me going again. I only ran one 12 as Saturday running didn't happen due to me pulling an inlet manifold stud but a helicoil later got things back on track so I could run on Sunday. Comedy youtube clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUhU06H2JwA and a fun weekend had! Horrible over rev in 1st so not sure why I'm linking it here!

Last race of the year back to the Hot Rod Drags only 3 runs due to the weather on the Saturday being poor, but all were 12's and two new PB's to finish the year on a high with a 12.71 at 102.8mph.

This combination was as I said Ian’s old set up the only difference being an FK87 and 9:1 cr. The motor was nothing fancy, a welded counterweigh Bugpack crank in a mag case Mahle B&P’s. The bit that made the difference was the Jeff Denham mini D’s 40x35.5 with a set of IDA’s on top (my first IDA’s a big tick on the ACVW bucket list). The gearbox had a 4.125 R&P stock 1st & 2nd with a 1.58 3rd and a 1.12 4th. That was all it took to run 12’s in a street legal ACVW. The car was stripped out at this point but I’d not lost the plot with weight saving yet. So not a wild combination which proves you don't need to break the bank to run 12's.

Next came one very simple basic error which cost a lot of money and what turned out to be a whole ear of racing. At the end of the 2005 season I did a few jobs on the car over the winter, but basically parked it. What I didn't do though was slacken off the rockers to give the valve springs a rest. So fast forward to 2006 and the April Spring Speed Nationals at SCR. Pull round to the burn out box spin the tires and drop number 3 exhaust valve. That was that head ruined hole in piston. So back to the drawing board again.

Plans for a new 1776 were made and once again Simon Emery came to the rescue.

Part 3 to follow.  

[andy198712]

Loving it!

[stretch]

I remember that Bugjam.

I was sitting in the boot of someones car (maybe Matty's 5 series) while he towed a car back to the pits (for once it wasn't mine lol) & you rode past us on a bmx at about 250mph with the biggest grin on your face.     We found out later why the massive smile.

[jamiep_jamiep]

Great reading this Peter, look forward to hearing the next instalment!

[kev d]

Yep, keep the story coming pete!

[sonic]

Congrats , realy impressed by the work you and Johannes put in to the new development .. Its "new" ground and super-interesting ..

Rgs
Erich

[richie]

Nice recap Pete   does seem along time ago we were stood in the lanes @bugjam laughing about me giving you a tow to get you that 12   Let me know when you want a tow into the 10s and I will see what i can do

cheers Richie

[chopper476]

this is awesome! one of my favourite cars ever, but im too young to have seen it over the years, so this re-cap is great

[Peter Shattock]

I remember that Bugjam.

I was sitting in the boot of some ones car (maybe Matty's 5 series) while he towed a car back to the pits (for once it wasn't mine lol) & you rode past us on a bmx at about 250mph with the biggest grin on your face.     We found out later why the massive smile.

Hi Stretch, yep that was the WPS hack at the track and back at the workshop to nip to the supermarket to get the lunch. It certainly was a timing ticket I was keen to get my hands on!

Here is what the first 12 looked like off the start line.

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[Peter Shattock]

Nice recap Pete   does seem along time ago we were stood in the lanes @bugjam laughing about me giving you a tow to get you that 12   Let me know when you want a tow into the 10s and I will see what i can do

cheers Richie

It was a long time ago here is the proof! Looks like I was catching you at the 1/8 must have been the spring in the elastic!

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If I'd left on time looks like it would have been a close race, certainly wouldn't be that close these days!

[richie]

Nice recap Pete   does seem along time ago we were stood in the lanes @bugjam laughing about me giving you a tow to get you that 12   Let me know when you want a tow into the 10s and I will see what i can do

cheers Richie

It was a long time ago here is the proof! Looks like I was catching you at the 1/8 must have been the spring in the elastic!

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If I'd left on time looks like it would have been a close race, certainly wouldn't be that close these days!

That's cool to see, don't think I have all my tickets still which is a shame.

Anyway have you been driving it around yet? don't think you need any cooling at the moment, nature is taking care of that

cheers Richie

[Peter Shattock]

Well obviously not, regardless of weather or cooling. I've got hours of fannying around in the garage to do before contemplating driving it! Making progress though......

[peach_]

Fantastic to read about this car can't wait for the next update. thanks for sharing Pete  

[Peter Shattock]

Part 3

So the dropped valve was the end of the road for the 1st 1776 long block. As I said previously the heads were the big difference in this engine and one was now in a very bad way. Some of the other parts were salvageable, but with no heads I was a bit stuck.

This is where Simon Emery came to the rescue. Several years earlier he had bought Blue Obsession from the States. The 1776cc motor that came with the car was complete but as it turned out the heads were junk along with a number of other parts in the engine. So at this point Ian and Simon made a plan to collect some replacement parts with a view to rebuilding the engine based around a new case and the reusable parts of the old engine. This was principally the crank, flywheel and rods and a few other smaller ancillary parts. Fortunately for me as it turns out Simon bought well with a set Jeff Denham large D port heads, a new mag case an FK87, magnum cam gears, Berg rockers etc. This engine was in kit form under Ian's bench in the engine room in Woking. I was aware of it previously, but it was clear now that I needed to buy it if Simon was prepared to sell it.

Fortunately for me, Simon agreed and a deal was struck. This was a win win for me as not only did I have an engine which had more potential than the last one due to the larger heads, but I also had what was left from the motor from Blue Obsession.

Those of you of a certain age might remember a street scene video from 1987 featuring a couple of events including Bugorama. There was a clip of Blue Obsession just rumbling through the pits on slicks with wheelie bars and a stinger poking out the back looking and sounding fantastic. This car played a large part in me ending up with a blue car myself and now I was about to have the useable parts of its engine in my own blue car,

I did seriously contemplate buying the whole car briefly, but I had already done a fair bit to my car and I was about to empty my wallet to buy the engine so for once a bit of sense prevailed. Also as my car is a street car the more subtle standard scruffy looking car I had was already perfect for what I had in mind.

Up until this point the old engine combination had remained broadly unaltered I had swapped the MSD out for a magneto, but in principal that was about it, but for a bit of tinkering.

I was weight conscious from the beginning but in the last year I had started to actively try and loose some weight in the car. This turned out to be the start of an obsession which has bordered on madness at times. This has seen the car on the start line with me in it at under 1500lbs at times although the weight is a little higher at the moment the aim is to keep it at around 1500lbs.

Whilst the new motor was being built I also took the opportunity to rebuild the gearbox. Peter at Cogbox and I also lightened a new super diff and set about lightening the gears and other gearbox internals. We also drilled out the centers of all the studs and replacing the nuts with Ti items. This was all done over a number of Sundays in his workshop. Lightening stuff in the morning then going for lunch at the local cafe to decide what else we could lighten in the afternoon! A lot of this was guess work, but we did stretch test the studs with varying size holes to see what the limit was. These were fun times and we ended up saving a good lump of weight, with the gearbox noticeably lighter when you picked it up relative to a stock one. The majority of the weight saving was with reciprocating parts too.

One other modification we did which at the time which was just for fun, but actually proved to be very useful, was drilling large holes in the bell housing. There was next to no weight saving but being able to see the clutch release bearing and pressure plate was perfect for setting up and adjusting the clutch which proved to be very useful in the “clutch years”.

Some weight saving

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As the terminal speeds were likely to be up a bit I spent a bit more time looking at things to help high speed stability too. I had learned from previous experience that control of unwanted tow out when you shut off at the top of the track was a big one. So with the gearbox back in the car the next job was to sort out the spring plate bushes which to this point were the original rubber ones which were well worn and struggling to cope. I actually tried a few combinations but ended up with new stock rubber inners with some suspension dynamics eurothane outers. The outers were an unusually good fit and proved to be a great compromise between general ride quality and controlling unwanted spring plate movement.

I also added some restraining straps which restricted the downward travel of the spring plate. Although they were heavier than the old flop stop kit I was using they had a nicer feel when I shut off at the top of the track and the car unloaded. There was a degree of give in the straps before they took up all the load which not only felt better in the car, but mechanically it also seamed much nicer too.

At the front end having broken the JT Ali beam I had originally and fixed it I decided to go for a new Jamar one which was available pre narrowed by 50mm which gave me almost exactly the standard off set with the Wilwood disc brakes I'm running. The thing that lets these beams down or at least it did back then, was the eurothane bushes as they were a loose fit on the trailing arms. So I got some material and made some new ones to get rid of the play. One thing of note though is that you shouldn’t over tighten the steering box on the beam as it will distort the tube and lock up the arm in the beam. I ended up torqueing the box as recommended 22ft/lbs rings a bell then I reamed the bush to be sure and it’s been fine ever since.

The only other modification I made was to shave of the inner projection of the shock tower on the standard Jamar beam so I did not need to modify the front inner wings. I fitted a threaded insert in the shock tower so I could use a standard style bolt rather than a nut and bolt as the inner wing clearance is tight.
This was about where the car was for 2007 season with the obvious aim of going a bit quicker.

I wanted to run regular solid 12’s all the time not just when all the stars aligned The Outlaws are a 12.99 or faster club and I was on the margins and didn’t want to let the side down. So when I said 12's and wheelies what I meant was regular 12's and wheelies, then I would be happy…....

The new motor  in the car
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That was my justification for wanting to go a bit quicker. The car was a solid mid 12 second car, immediately with the new setup, but after a bit of this and that sorting out the car and getting used to driving it again it went and ran sub 12.50 with a 12.44 at 105mph. Now that 0.06 of a second is not much, but it inevitably pointed towards low 12's to me.

Needless to say my usual consultants Ian and Peter told me all I needed to know and that was it. All of a sudden I needed to run low 12's! So you see it’s not my fault it was all down to Ian and Peter.

At the end of the 2007 season my low ET was 12.44 with a whole winter ahead of me it was time for some more weigh saving and some more compression in the motor.
Weight saving at the back of the car became a big target for me as I decided although the overall weight was getting there I needed to loose more at the back to get a better ratio for my longer term plans.

2008 started with a bit less weigh (I was just about on my 1500lbs target now) and some more compression (around 10.5:1) an LM1 to help with the tuning at the track. I also did the so called JCL steering modification to try and help keep the car on the straight and narrow and guess what it went quicker. At the August bank holiday meeting it went 12.20 at 107! The car was running sub 12.50 all the time now unless I made a mess of it and was low maintenance, reliable and generally no fuss at all on the street or at the track.

In the background I had been collecting parts for an 11 second 1776 which was due to be a more aggressive combination, but all of a sudden the so called “shopper” was dangerously close to achieving what the new motor was supposed to do.

So I finished the season at 12.20, which was not only the low 12's it was far too close to an 11 for it to be left alone over a whole winter. Inevitably at the end of the season Ian, Peter and I decided to have a bit of a push to see if we could sneak a bit more. This resulted in a plan to save a bit more weight, add a bit more compression (we ended up at 11.75:1), Ti valves and a shorter 4th gear some work to the IDA’s some re valved rear shocks. This all happened over the 2008 / 09 winter and was how I raced the car in 2009.

I raced twice in 2009 the first at the August Bank Holiday meeting at SCR and then at the National Finals at Santa Pod.
I made 5 passes at the august BH meeting 12.3 to start with, then the first ever 11, at 11.935, then what would be the best of the year 11.915 at 111.61mph a 12.1 and another 11.9 to finish the weekend. At the National Finals there were another 4 passes the first was straight back to the 11’s two 12.0’s and an 11’9 to finish on
Peter and Ian the two major contributors to the car were both at the track in August when it turned that first 11 so it was great that we were all there together to enjoy it. Happy days.

SCR and the 1st 11's
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At the end of both weekends I had great drives home. The summer drive was a nice hot evening ride through the Cotswolds feeling really good. The drive from the National finals had a more wintery feel and was at night but felt just as good as it was the end of a short but great year with the car running into the 11’s for the first time!
This was a really great time for me and the car with it being as reliable as ever, low maintenance and fast at the track. It was a great summer driving the car on the street and a really good end for me and the motor.

Having come so far with the motor to be honest I was sad to see it go, but it had to be sold to fund the new one, but that is for part 4

[Zach Gomulka]

Love reading updates here

Any idea how much weight you removed from the gearbox?

[leec]

Great write up Pete,
What's scary is it was 8 years ago, where does the time go

[richie]

Really cool to see it all written down like that, I am not sure I would be able to remember everything in such detail, wish I had kept some notes on the old cab now


cheers Richie 

[Peter Shattock]

Hi Zach,

Glad you liked the update. I thought I better get a bit of it down on paper before I forgot it all. Its a good point Lee makes it was a long time ago now and my hazy memory was often wrong when I looked at the time slips and receipts!

In terms of the weight saving I'm afraid I cant say as I'm not one for measuring the weight of everything just as long as the new bit is lighter than the bit it replaces. But as I said it was quite a lump of weight in the case of the gearbox as I did do just about all I could.

The clutch inspection holes!
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A few holes and bit shaved of here and there.
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Peter

[UltraOrange67-2443]

Hi Peter

Now I've seen the drilled out bolts I'm pretty sure your crazy!

Cheers,

Nick

[Peter Shattock]

Really cool to see it all written down like that, I am not sure I would be able to remember everything in such detail, wish I had kept some notes on the old cab now


cheers Richie 

Write it down or forget it its an age thing!

Nick your a bit slow, most people realised that years ago! That said the symptoms of my condition appear to have accelerated over recent years!

[UltraOrange67-2443]

Nick your a bit slow, most people realised that years ago! That said the symptoms of my condition appear to have accelerated over recent years!

Just like my engine build 

[BeetleBug]

One of my favourite bugs! Love this thread.

A mission, a plan and then sticking to it. Improving your ET slowly and gradually and always improving the next thing on your to-do list. Quite rare these days since "everyone" is rushing to reach their goal and doing big, non trackable changes on their cars, engine and set up.

Want to drive proper fast with a smallish, high reving NA engine you have to do certain things to your car. The easy way is to cut the car to pieces, tupperware this and tupperware that and no interior. Anyone can do that. It is a far bigger achievement to do it with style and at the same time keeping it streetable.

Thank you for taking the time to share your project in details with the rest of us. Truly inspirational!

Best rgs
BB

[Eddie DVK]

Peter,

Really cool to read, love your weight saving.. like the allu gearmounts and the holes in that box...  

Ooh maybe a stupid questions but the 1500lbs is including you..(the driver)?

[WPS]

  Hard to believe we started all this back in the 90's/early 2000's but great to catch up on all that has happened over the last 15 or so years!!
There's been many a late night talking and working on parts and ideas.....mostly talking and drinking tea but that's all part of the fun right!!
Pete is indeeed abit mad when it comes to all this but so are most of my friends and customers who work hard to earn enough money to blow it all on stupid shit like making an old VW go stupid fast.....I've been doing abit of roundy roundy over the last few years in a friends 1958 356 and it's safe to say they're mostly no different......had some great conversations with 70 somethings that have brilliant stories to tell and still have the energy and enthusiasm to go racing for the weekend and give it everything they've got!!
I'm sure Pete will be bangin' on about some spaceage metal or something in 20-30 years time that he's gonna use to make things lighter or stronger etc......hold on.....he's doing that already!! There's no helping some people........thank goodness!!
Happiness is a HotVW and a bunch of 'idiot' mates!!
Ian

[Peter Shattock]

Hi BB, glad you like the plan. The car certainly needs a bit of track time now to see if we can get it all to work together.

Eddie, yes its around 1500 with me in it on the start line.

Ian, I was thinking that when I started writing this, it was a while back now, and a lot of tea!

[Peter Shattock]

Part 3b

So the 11 second spec went like this.
 
The long block is based around a new Magnesium case with a wedgemated crank and flywheel. The crank is an 8 doweled welded counterweight, with a modified 8.5lb flywheel. The pulley is a Gene Berg Equaliser (power pulley size). I ran two clutch options either a stage one Kennedy with a Black Magic disc or a stage 2 Kennedy with a Dakin disc. I ran two sets of rods some Carillos and the big bolt Scat 5.4 H beams, the cam is an Engle FK87 with modified straight cut Magnum cam gears. 30mm Shadek oil plugged oil pump with Gene Berg cover, Mahle 90.5 barrels and pistons with a total seal 2nd ring and CB lightweight wrist pins and spiralocks. The push rods are Scat chrome molly in JayCee pushrod tubes. The heads / inlet manifolds are 043’s / tall Scat manifolds, by Jeff Denham with 42mm x 37.5mm Titanium valves, Scat dual valve springs, titanium retainers and Gene Berg 1.54 rockers with std vented rocker covers. Ignition is via an original rebuilt Scintilla magneto with 8mm Moroso leads, a JayCee mount with breather outlet. Modified Webber 48 IDA’s with a Tayco cross bar linkage. The exhaust header was a Phoenix stainless steel 1 5/8ths with boss for a lambda probe with exhaust rap and Berg dual quiet packs sorry or a stainless steel stinger. Welded Gene Berg fan , Gene Berg 4 quart deep sump, external oil filter and cooler with fans.

The gearbox was fitted with various lightened parts but was based around a stock case with as 4.125 r&p with an open diff, stock 1st and 2nd gears with a 1.58 3rd and a 1.26 4th and the usual HD side plate and axles.

Car weight was just under 1500lbs.

So that’s your 11's cocktail!

The 11's would not have been possible without a lot of help from a lot of people (far to many to mention), but without doubt if it wasn't for Peter and Ian it would not have happened, and this was certainly as much their achievement as it was mine. If there is one thing I have learnt in all this, its that the best way to go fast is to surround yourself with people who know what they are doing and have done it before. In the long run it will save you a lot of time and money!   

I sold the old 1776cc which was again quickly re sold before it even ran or was fitted in a car. As you may know its found a new home in the back of a certain brown oval where it will hopefully be run this year and be developed further over the coming years.

One way or another it would certainly be good to see and hear it back at the track again. Particularly as it’s in a light car with the right gearbox it should be a great combination.

Peter

[Zach Gomulka]

Love it. Nothing too fancy there, just good old fashioned hot rodding.

How much compression? What was your shift RPM? Must have been screaming through the traps. I'm amazed the Cima/Mahle's could cope!

What was your reasoning behind the light flywheel with heavy pulley?

Thanks for sharing!