15 years of ownership => eternal search for better driving experience

[Martin S.]

The other thing I've done lately to improve the driving experience and inspire confidence in competitive traffic situations is to retrofit the brake/tail and turn signal bulbs on my car. LEDs struggled for years to be as bright as regular bulbs, but now finally they have surpassed and exceeded my expectations. I wouldn't buy from anywhere but superbrightled.com and here is a pic of my car with the latest bulb on the right, and an older tech LED on the left. This is what other drivers expect to see when you hit the brakes. $25US for each bulb but still cheaper than a new motor if you get rear ended sitting at a light. Next I will upgrade the signal bulbs to these as well.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-function-28-smd-led-tower-bay15d-retrofit-car/1644/#tab/Overview

[Brandon Sinclair]

I definately agree on the lights although I am not a LED convert yet, but the quality of halogen bulbs out there for brake, reverse, running lights, and turn signals make a huge difference.

One I thought of the other day when driving is the windshield.  I put a lot of miles on my car and there are the unevitable dings and then eventually there are super tiny bubbles that appear in the laminate that all add up to a less than clear windshield.  Everytime I have replaced it I think to myself, damn I should have done that a while back.  It improves the driving experience greatly!

[Clatter]

The best things about a hot VW vs. those other makes..

You don't have to:

Worry endlessly about what color it is
Wear driving gloves
Care what kind of sunglasses you have on
Bore your friends about your driving school experience
Pretend it's fast

 

[modnrod]

The best things about a hot VW vs. those other makes..

You don't have to:
 

.......have 200rwhp to slide a 165 around on the bitumen.

 

[wolfswest]

Dem your car always looked great, but the way you made it now is even better. simply stunning car. 

Thx Nicolas,  I try to make the best out of it, despite of some choices I've made in the past that aren't 100% "cal look".

[wolfswest]

For all the stagnation in the hobby and only permitting "period correct" looks and parts and the rest of it, to be allowed in the limelight, I am pleased to see that others realize there is another way. A well rounded out VW makes a fantastic and possibly terrifying driver. Horsepower, tires, proper shocks and brakes, all thought out and refined over years of ownership, in my opinion, are the way to go. I resisted doing anything on my car, other than these ridiculous "ragged edge" motors that weren't quite race motors, but they certainly weren't good street motors either. Sure looked good on the catalog pages and when daydreaming about how no power until 5500rpm would be the answer to all life's questions. I look down on my time tiptoeing around "insanity" of it all, when all along it al could have been so much better and easier. At least it was a learning experience. I guess some of us just force ourselves against the coarse grinding wheel, bent on making it an uphill climb, toiling away, in denial, chasing the impossible.

Spot on Jim!

[wolfswest]

The best things about a hot VW vs. those other makes..

You don't have to:

Worry endlessly about what color it is
Wear driving gloves
Care what kind of sunglasses you have on
Bore your friends about your driving school experience
Pretend it's fast

HAHA! 

Personally I don't have the urge to upgrade to brighter led bulbs or any other kind.  Maybe I should, I don't know.  Most of the time I drive my bug on country roads with barely any traffic, I hate to cruise around with much traffic.  I haven't used my bug for commuting either.  Thankfully I haven't experienced a collision yet, hope to keep it that way though!

[Martin S.]

OK, I have a ton of old good bulbs that you can have! Another thing I hate about shitty electrics is a weak horn. When I lean on it, I want to be heard!
Here's a simple hack with a bit of wire, a relay, and one screw that leaves your existing horn wiring intact and uncut and makes you wanna honk at everything you see.

[Glauco]

Dem,

I think I've already told you this, but there's a guy on shoptalkforums (sorry to name other forums, but bare with me) who races 2 ghia's one with IRS, an other one with swing axle.
He has made a complete topic on how he modified both cars to give them the best handling.
He uses them for racing, but a lot of the modifications can be usefull for normal driving as well..

here's the topic:

http://shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=127619

check it out, some of the stuff he did are realy simpel and make it worth the effort, it's 14 pages of suspension wisdom.. 

[wolfswest]

Hi guys,

I wanted to update this topic because a lot have happened in the past year.  Well, last summer I was enjoying the GTI a lot and even took it on a father – son bounding camp weekend which was huge fun and hopefully will stay in the little man his memories for a long time, it sure will be in mine.

A few months after my last post a fellow  club member told me he wanted to sell his karmann ghia.  This KG is a true 70’s survivor, originally built by DKP II member Marty Souter, featured in a ’77 VW Greats magazine, brought to Norway by Vegard (baboon on here) and then sold to Jelle.  He wanted the KG to go to a Cal look enthousiast and not someone who would restore it back to oem specs.

So, long story short we struck a deal and came up with a plan because the car needed a bit of work, a fresh Belgian MOT, Belgian plates & registration and some mechanical and cosmetic work.  We weren’t in a hurry and worked on the car when time allowed us and meanwhile we dealt with Belgian customs.

Obviously the GTI needed to go, I needed the space, the money.  This really wasn’t the plan because I was enjoying it but the KG just had so much more appeal to me.  A good friend and a true GTI fanatic bought it so it left me without much of a hassle.

The KG arrived a month ago so the last few weeks I had some time to really connect with the car.  Sure, it has some flaws and some work to address but I really like it so far.  The GTI was a bit faster, much more comfort, less noise, better heating, a sunroof, a nice stereo, and the list goes on… but…  it’s not an aircooled vw.  Can’t explain it.

The KG is sporting a 1679cc with dual 42 dcnf’s which is really something else then my 2165 IDA motor in the ’72.  Since I started more or less with the same 2165 years ago I didn’t have any experience with smaller “hot?” engines..  I like it so far, yeah, it’s not fast like the ’72 but is has some torque, heating, and I’m impressed with the feeling I get from this really vintage small engine.  I definitely understand the real vintage hot rodding in the 70’s a bit more.

The 1679 used to have a lot more potential in the 70’s when it sported ported heads, higher CR and IDA’s.  But I do “feel” its potential somehow even if it’s not there right now.
We think the engine is still the same: berg CW 69mm, full flow, W120??, but for the moment with fairly stock 043 heads, 42 dcnf’s and heater boxes. 
Recently I installed a 019 + pertronix kit, fiddled with the jets a bit (thx to Nicolas!) and it’s running good now.  Pulls “strong” up to 5600rpm app. So, lots to think about in the near future.  Rip the motor out and port the heads a bit?  Raise the CR a bit?  Change the rockers to 1.25 specs?  Enjoy it like it is…
But for now it’s almost summer and I want to drive it as much as possible and work on it a bit when the weather isn’t that good.  That happens sometimes in Belgian summers.  You know, the small things: a new rubber here and there, repaint the steering wheel, polish the wheels a bit more, give the paint some extra tlc, looking for a vintage stereo setup, maybe some sound dampening, …

And so… the saga continuous.  Wonder what the future will bring.

[Clatter]

Y'know.. I'm really digging the theme here.
Dug my Oval out of hibernation, and breaking in the 1914 after a couple of 'mishaps'.
Had it since '96 or so.
If only all the traffic here wasn't constantly at a standstill...


At first glance, you might think it's a pretty traditional late Cal-looker, right?



Compartment looks the part, too..


Interior:


Fact of the matter is, I've gone nutty for handling with it as well; pretty much 'everything' to be done with a beam.
Those old 145s I had up front would plow into turns, not really steering much. 
A narrowed beam gets you room for drop spindles and proper front rubber.
The single best mod was the further-offset ball-joints to get some more camber into the front.
A chopped beam also gets you stiffer torsions,
To match the stiffer rear torsions, and make a better balance.

Also notice the pan swap.. IRS and ball joints were such the hot ticket for an Oval back in the day!
It was like "Wow! pan swap!".
Now it's all this OG nonsense.. Never mind how weak stock Oval brakes are.

Scat seats provide some proper support.
The little dune-buggy steering wheel makes for some flingability.
Aftermarket fenders weigh less.
Fuel gauge, passenger mirror, three-point belts, etc...

Once you make the trip over to the dark side,
Not to ever care about what is original or not,
What the kids think is hip,
Then you can go with all of the great old stuff that actually works well.

Somehow, now that Bugpack is no more,
I'm even pretty stoked on my one-piece black vinyl headliner.
Who woulda thunk it??

One-piece windows and REAL decklid standoffs forever!!

PS, yes, the bogus 8-spoke Empis with fake knock-offs are there just to piss of today's 'experts'..!

[Neil Davies]

I think that oval looks superb. The 8's look right on it somehow, like a late '70's/early '80's survivor car. I'd be more than happy with it.

[andrewlandon67]

-I guess I've spent the last years too much time on sites like Petrolicious and I was looking for an all round vintage driving experience.  I've tried a few cars to say the least.

This is ENTIRELY too relatable. Fortunately I only have enough money for one crappy old car at a time, and with the reappearance of this post as well as a drive I took the other day in my Subaru that I want to take at a higher rate of speed in my '67, I've decided I'm going to try and get my car to handle properly again, mostly just redoing the rear sway bar bushings and trying to figure out a not enormous sway bar for the 2" narrowed front end, as well as properly aligning the wheels for the best grip possible. Thank you again for the inspiration!

[wolfswest]

-I guess I've spent the last years too much time on sites like Petrolicious and I was looking for an all round vintage driving experience.  I've tried a few cars to say the least.

This is ENTIRELY too relatable. Fortunately I only have enough money for one crappy old car at a time, and with the reappearance of this post as well as a drive I took the other day in my Subaru that I want to take at a higher rate of speed in my '67, I've decided I'm going to try and get my car to handle properly again, mostly just redoing the rear sway bar bushings and trying to figure out a not enormous sway bar for the 2" narrowed front end, as well as properly aligning the wheels for the best grip possible. Thank you again for the inspiration!

Great!  Keep us posted Andrew.

[Peter]

Nice post Dem!
Now my GT86 engine self destructed I feel the need to tinker with my bug again

[andrewlandon67]

-I guess I've spent the last years too much time on sites like Petrolicious and I was looking for an all round vintage driving experience.  I've tried a few cars to say the least.

This is ENTIRELY too relatable. Fortunately I only have enough money for one crappy old car at a time, and with the reappearance of this post as well as a drive I took the other day in my Subaru that I want to take at a higher rate of speed in my '67, I've decided I'm going to try and get my car to handle properly again, mostly just redoing the rear sway bar bushings and trying to figure out a not enormous sway bar for the 2" narrowed front end, as well as properly aligning the wheels for the best grip possible. Thank you again for the inspiration!

Great!  Keep us posted Andrew.

Absolutely! Hope you're having fun with that Ghia, sounds like a fun little engine for sure!

[wolfswest]

Nice post Dem!
Now my GT86 engine self destructed I feel the need to tinker with my bug again