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Author Topic: Jim Ratto thread  (Read 12743 times)
John Rayburn
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Der Kleiner Panzers


« on: September 23, 2008, 17:36:18 pm »

O.K. Jim , your turn to tell us the history of your car.
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I also park at Nick's.
javabug
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WHAT'S UP WID DA BOOM BOOM???


« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2008, 17:50:47 pm »

Turnabout is fair play...  Wink
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Mike H.

Sven was right.
Bewitched666
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Bewitched


« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2008, 18:34:41 pm »

Go go Jim Grin
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Fast vw beetle's rule
Rick Sadler
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« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2008, 18:45:01 pm »

Ok Jim...we are waiting. Roll Eyes
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Der Kleiner Panzers
louisb
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Runs with Scissors


« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2008, 18:47:15 pm »

Isn't this the Berg car?  Grin

--louis
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Louis Brooks

The Beatings Will Continue Until Moral Improves!
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2008, 21:12:37 pm »

 Roll Eyes

I'll get you yet, John...

Not much to tell... and I don't have a scanner... so....
The car was built on 10-25-66 and was sold in Germany as a U.S. spec car. The original owner was a doctor. After him a friend of my family bought it in the early 80's I think. I ended up with it as a gift on Christmas of 1986, after getting my (bad) grades up. It was in a rough state, had been hit and somewhat repaired on LH side, had wrong year LH door (tied shut with rope to seat belt hoop), no running boards, Euro-blades, Euro taillights, chrome 5.5" 5 lug wheels, '67 hubcaps, stock height, somewhat custom interior (dark blue vinyl with fat biscuit grey velour inserts on stock front lowbacks and rear seat), Audiovox cassette player, JET 6 x 9's and an equalizer in glovebox. The motor was a worn out 1500cc, stock except for 009 and speedshop chrome air cleaner (I now have the orig oil bath for it). I learned to drive in the car, fumbling with gear changing and clutching. In six months I spent my savings on a stockish 1641 dual port from Bugformance in San Jose CA, with Weber progressive and S & S Street Silencers headers. In a few months I thought 34ICTs would be faster, so I sold the 32/36 and bought those and in a few months I didn't like those, so I bought a 36DRLA single off my dad that he was going to use on my sister's '67. He put the Wbers on that and sold it. I lowered the car the first time in 1987 with a chrome plated adjustable beam... I know i know... hold your eggs... don't start throwing stuff at me. I ended up bending that beam into a pretzel doing a burnout a few years later.... in the rain, tagged a curb, just being stupid and 17-18 yr old. In 1988 I built my first motor, another 1641, but built to the hilt... all the stuff from the Bugpack catalog. I just went to Buggy House, dropped my stock crank off as a core for 69mm c/w, and emptied the walls of all the hp stuff, springs, rockers, swivel feet, pushrods, retainers, mini sump suction thing, KEP clutch, Engle VZ25, the old Scat lifters they sold in paper sacks and a new set of 041 heads. I ran the 36DRLA on it for about 6 months and it was a real handful... idled roughly @ 1400rpm, made no power under 4000, but then screamed to 7000 above that. It was the wrong thing for a bad tempered teenager to be driving around. I wanted to and did race every car that pulled next to me no matter if it was another kid, an old lady or a cop. That motor got me into a pile of trouble. Anyway, I finally saved up and bought double 36DRLAs for it and it was totally different. Smooth, barky, torquey and still screamed.
Car got dented up in a car chase (they call that road rage today) in 1989, picked a race with a mini truck full of cranked out cowboy loser tweakers in Livermore. They got pissed and followed my friend and I all over the county... we took a corner too fast slid off road, they stopped and threw a bunch of beer bottles at my car, then stopped when my friend jumped out of car with a huge bayonet. The car got painted a month later and is still wearing that paint today. I brought this guy DeCoite, a picture of a 356A Carrera that was Adriatic blue and said "can you do that?" and so he custom mixed the blue on my car to match, but with mica (pearl) in it. The stock US bumpers went back on same time.
A few months later I started working at Buggy House, March of 1990. Working there, you couldn't be respected if you had under 1776 or something, so I blew all my earnings on 74 DMS crank, Rimco rods, Engle 125 cam, 044 Magnum heads that I had Jimmy Hannan port, new 44IDFs, Sheep gave me a brand new Mexican case that had all the frills done, bought a good used Four Tuned header off our Scat rep, Pat Duke. I set compression @ 7.5:1 and built it and drove the wheels off of it, to LA and OC a bunch, to Phoenix, dragged it a few times, went low 15's on radials.
1991 I put Super Flows and FK87 in that motor. Oh and added 48's. Dumb motor
1992 I made a 2276 with same heads, but FK10 and 9.0:1... went mid 13's on radials, all day long.
Cam went flat.
1994 I sold SF heads and got Popper's "black" SE heads, went 7.8:1, Engle 130, stock rockers. Drove it 4 months
then ported my own SE heads, Engle K8, 7.8:1 drove it 16000 miles
same heads, then FK10, drove it even more than K8, went mid 13's on radials.
Added BRM copies in 1997
Then bought wedgeport heads that Denham did for Scat, 44 x 37, 9.3:1, Web 86C. Think I built it in 1997, drove it all over the place, went 12.66 in 1999.
Built a big stupid race gas motor and put drag gear ratios in car in 2001. Burnt out big time. Hated the car, hated VW's, wanted out, ...
Built mild 94 x 74 with little Web 110, 7.9:1, drove it around.... slow..
Moved to So Cal in 2005
Joined DKP 11/2006
Built 2165 w/ FK45 in 4/2007 drove the wheels off that got bored.
Built the latest (and my favorite so far) 2165 with Pauter R6E8 and heads ported a bit by me and a bit by Clyde.
that's that... gotta go back to work now.
Happy now John?
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Nico86
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Turnip engine.


« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2008, 21:45:25 pm »

Can we have more details ?







 Roll Eyes



 Grin
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Tony M
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« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2008, 22:21:07 pm »

Yea Jim tells us more - more on me selling you anything and everything at BH.  Shocked
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Life is too fast to drive a slow VW
Rennsurfer
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D.B.O. Not a club; a state of mind.


« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2008, 22:37:25 pm »

Cool, Jim! Thanks for sharing.

(coughSCANNERcough)

Pardon me.

 Grin
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"You can only scramble an egg so many ways."
~Sarge
Sarge
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« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2008, 23:06:49 pm »


(coughSCANNERcough)


I'm OLD and I have a scanner....WTF??? Roll Eyes Grin
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DKP III
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2008, 23:07:36 pm »


(coughSCANNERcough)


I'm OLD and I have a scanner....WTF??? Roll Eyes Grin

yeah.... and points.  Roll Eyes
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louisb
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Runs with Scissors


« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2008, 23:10:19 pm »


(coughSCANNERcough)


I'm OLD and I have a scanner....WTF??? Roll Eyes Grin

yeah.... and points.  Roll Eyes

Sarge's scanner has points? Damn, how did he manage that one. How many scans do you get before you have to reset the gap?

--louis
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Louis Brooks

The Beatings Will Continue Until Moral Improves!
lawrence
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« Reply #12 on: September 23, 2008, 23:16:13 pm »

Cool history, Jim.

Sarge im younger than you and Jim but I dont have a scanner, but if I got one it would take me about five minutes to learn how to use it. Grin
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"Happiness is a Hot VW!"
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #13 on: September 23, 2008, 23:18:18 pm »

I thought a scanner was for hiding from the cops
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Rennsurfer
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D.B.O. Not a club; a state of mind.


« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2008, 23:19:02 pm »

I'm OLD and I have a scanner....WTF??? Roll Eyes Grin

See, Ratto? Heck, I'm old enough to be yer Daddy and even my broke ass has a scanner. HAHA!!

Of course, this site is the reason I finally quit being lazy and got one. But I have one, nonetheless.

 Grin

Don't make me post pics of your car, dang it. I'll haul off and do just THAT.
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"You can only scramble an egg so many ways."
~Sarge
sheep
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« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2008, 23:20:55 pm »

Jim..... Rayburn was kidding ... Nobody really cares Angry
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unless it has wheels,tits or fins I dont care
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2008, 23:22:25 pm »

Jim..... Rayburn was kidding ... Nobody really cares Angry

Who wants to hear the shower story??? Let's see your hands!
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Rennsurfer
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D.B.O. Not a club; a state of mind.


« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2008, 23:24:32 pm »

Who wants to hear the shower story??? Let's see your hands!

I do, I do!

Jim..... Rayburn was kidding ... Nobody really cares Angry

Wait... so this was all an April Fool's joke? Dude.

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"You can only scramble an egg so many ways."
~Sarge
Donny B.
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« Reply #18 on: September 23, 2008, 23:34:25 pm »

Jim I'm pretty sure you had the BRM copies on the car in '96 when I met you as Solvang.  Huh?

I think the 12.66 run was at Carlsbad for the Drag Day.  Right?  I did one run that day.  It was in the 15s with a reaction time over 1 second.  Never claimed to be a drag racer, never will...

Good one Jim!
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Don Bulitta
Wolfsburg Registry
roland
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lates are the new splits...


WWW
« Reply #19 on: September 23, 2008, 23:37:46 pm »

You know the rule... pictures or it didn't happen...

 Grin
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Glitter don't make you faster.
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #20 on: September 23, 2008, 23:41:12 pm »

Jim I'm pretty sure you had the BRM copies on the car in '96 when I met you as Solvang.  Huh?

I think the 12.66 run was at Carlsbad for the Drag Day.  Right?  I did one run that day.  It was in the 15s with a reaction time over 1 second.  Never claimed to be a drag racer, never will...

Good one Jim!

Thanks Donny! Wen we met @ Solvang, those BRM's weren't mine...I was "renting" them from mrrhd "Kyle Madden"... another one of the nutcases with us that weekend. I'm sorry if all the heckling and loudmouthing kept you up too.

Yeah it was @ Carlsbad Drag Day 10/99... I actually didn't want to go... I was in the middle of midterms during my second-to-last quarter of college. My friend Larry Mckenzie said I'd be a wussy if i didn't go. Whatever... I went. I though car would do its typical mid-high 13's thing, so I was shocked when I picked up my first time slip of 12.91 in the morning. That was a fun day.  Smiley
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Rennsurfer
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D.B.O. Not a club; a state of mind.


« Reply #21 on: September 23, 2008, 23:59:58 pm »

You've been warned.

I took this picture from Stephan's book signing in Feb. of this year.



I'm the lawn gnome on the left, wearing the deflated cheeseburger costume.

« Last Edit: September 24, 2008, 00:02:42 am by DKK_Fred » Logged

"You can only scramble an egg so many ways."
~Sarge
Diederick/DVK
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They're never done till they're sold


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« Reply #22 on: September 24, 2008, 00:07:39 am »

i thought your '67 has worn brm's from the moment you souped up its looks... Huh
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Diederick
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DVK ~ Der Vollgas Kreuzers
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #23 on: September 24, 2008, 00:10:04 am »

i thought your '67 has worn brm's from the moment you souped up its looks... Huh

nope... chrome 5 lug 5.5" until 1997

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Diederick/DVK
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They're never done till they're sold


WWW
« Reply #24 on: September 24, 2008, 00:11:38 am »

ah that's right. guess the brm's look all too well in place  Wink
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Diederick
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DVK ~ Der Vollgas Kreuzers
sheep
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« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2008, 01:41:11 am »

So at what point did you buy your car from Gary Berg, or did you buy it from Zavala??
I am so confused Shocked
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unless it has wheels,tits or fins I dont care
Jim Ratto
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« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2008, 02:15:47 am »

confused?
Like the time you....


ok we have one taker for the shower story..... any one else?
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stealth67vw
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« Reply #27 on: September 24, 2008, 02:42:22 am »

confused?
Like the time you....


ok we have one taker for the shower story..... any one else?
Tell us the carrot and the cocktail fork story while your at it  Shocked
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John Bates
JB Machining Services
1967 street bug 2020lbs w/driver
12.34 @ 108 mph 1/4
7.76 @ 89mph 1/8
kafercup
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« Reply #28 on: September 24, 2008, 02:47:42 am »

confused?
Like the time you....


ok we have one taker for the shower story..... any one else?

Oh boy, I haven't heard the shower story retold recently. Please Jim, refresh the details Smiley
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Sarge
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« Reply #29 on: September 24, 2008, 04:37:52 am »

 Kiss Kiss Kiss Grin Grin Grin
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DKP III
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