All Torque - 1956 Oval Turbo Racecar Work in Progress...

[Fasterbrit]

Ok, I have been asked to post some pix of the Oval and start a project thread. Not sure if you guys are going to dig it as it's runs a Wassboxer engine and is turbocharged. Anyway, heres a little run down on the car:

I bought the car back in 2003 as an ongoing project started by Pete Shattock (Outlaw Flat Four). Pete had bought the Oval in the 1980s and had started to build it as a race car. He cut out all the inner bulkheads, dashboard and had started to de-seam all of the window appertures. Inside the car, Pete had started out with the hole saw and had drilled about 50% of the lightening holes the car now has. He had tack-welded in a rollcage, but as it was mild steel and of inadequate tubing diameter for today's regs, it had to be cut out. The doors were race-weight fibreglass items from the States on billet ali hinges. There was no gearbox with the car or engine, but there was a very cool aluminium front beam which was adjustable and had been narrowed 4" (Who says narrowed beams are modern?, tut). Pete had done a lot welding: he had replaced the heater channels and had done some quarter panel work etc. All of the work done to the car had been of a really high standard - Pete had obviously taken his time and been patient. However, another project came along, so Pete and the Oval parted ways.

The first shot is of the car pretty much as I got it: Day Mouldings wings, fibreglass bonnet, race weight doors etc. The Sprint Stars and Ercos were put on for getting an overall idea of what the car would look like. And, because I bench race a lot, the car had already scored itself a moniker - All Torque!



After planning out what I was going to do with the car I set about cutting out unnecessary metal to make way for the Porsche 915 gearbox with Quaife dif. I chopped the rear torsion bars out of the equation and narrowed the back end nearly five inches.




I then spent days with the hole saw finishing off the 'drilled' look

[speedwell]

it look like a cheese matt 

[Fasterbrit]

I then started work on de-seaming the B-pillars. Again, quite a of work especially when you consider marking out and then drilling the holes at a very slow pace...



The orginianl Oval dash had been cut out, so I decided to weld it up completely and then panel beat some double curvature into the dash...



Back to the rear end: A mock up of the 915 gearbox and a turbo header with a T04 turbo...

[Fasterbrit]

Work on the car stopped for over a year as I moved to Cornwall etc. In 2007 I got back into the project and decided on a cro-moly cage. I called up good buddy Wayne Allman of the Intergalactic Custom Shop and asked him whether he could help out on the project. Yep, he was up for it, so I went to Stratford-upon-Avon for a week. Wayne and I worked six days and nights solid and came up with a semi-tube frame chassis/roll cage. Big up to Wayne as he is true Artisan!



Wayne takes health and safety very seriously...



Making the rear gearbox mount 2 inches higher than stock for extra ground clearance as the car is going low...



Some of Wayne's tube notching by hand - no expensive tubing notchers here!



Checking out the seating arrangements...



The main framework tacked in place. Lots more tubing to come into play months down the line...

[Fasterbrit]

Back at my workshop I continued for what seemed like months working on the cage. I made up tons more tubing and braced pretty much every aspect of the chassis. I suffer a bit from claustraphobia, so learning to Tig-weld upside down and back to front with the aid of mirrors was quite a task. The net result was pleasing though...



With the main chassis parts in place I could work on the front suspension, steering and fuel tank mounts. The steering is offset and is collapsible in case of a head-on. I got a little obsessed with cheese holing and weighing every part going on the car...



The fuel tank straps I made out of sheet titanium. They weigh about as much a sparrow's fart!

[Fasterbrit]

I sourced a Wasserboxer lump of Marco Mansi from his old race car. In a 2300 lb car (with him in it) it ran 10.86 in the quarter. Power at the flywheel was 413 bhp. However, Marco suggest the original turbo was running out of puff, so decided on this turbo...



I sourced 1000 hp rated chargecooler off Ebay and cut and modified it to fit my application. I then chopped up an old intercooler core from a Jap and made some ali end tanks and tigged them on to to form a radiator for the water system.





I then designed and completely scratch built an intake system from sheet aluminium

[Fasterbrit]

Marco came down to Cornwall for a week to design and build the injection system and wiring loom/ecu system. He talked me into 8 600 cc injectors and two Porsche turbo fuel pumps! I think we might run E85 in the future, so the added fuel system capacity will be necessary at some stage. All I can say about Marco is he is an absolute genius and a gentleman! cheers buddy! We fired the car up over in spring of this year and broke the cam in. Man, that engine sounds one bad mutha! Can't wait to drive it

[Fasterbrit]

I then started work on beefing up the bodyshell in areas that are prone to cracking. A little bit of panel beating and swaging goes a long way for rigidity!



I decided to fabricate my own Crotch Coolers a la Split Bug, but with a twist. The twist is they open backwards to let air out of the front inner wings...



A big thanks to Stian Abel Larsen for sending me a pattern of an original crotch cooler! Cheers bud! Anyway, I made the cooler flaps out of ali sheet with brass meshing...

[Fasterbrit]

With the body mods done, it was time for an entire sandblast of the whole bodyshell inside and out. I still have sand come out of my ears every now and then...



Ben then blasted on some zinc primer



Matt Bown came and helped smooth out the bodyshell and laid on some two-pack primer mixed with two-pack green base coat. I really dig the finish. It looks uncannily similar to Stian's car...

[speedwell]

as i can see you're not only just a good vw reporter  

cheers
fabs

[Fasterbrit]

Time to start work on the dash layout. It had to be basic, but functional. The Autometer and HKS programmable boost gauge take pride of place...



Wayne and I worked on the ali paneling together - it's pretty much done now



I wanted a heavy battery with loads of power right over the nose of the car to help keep it straight. I made the mounts from Zintec

[Fasterbrit]

I modified a Jazz seat to fit and had it recovered in leather by Matt Leach. Looks wicked in my opinion!



The engine looks a bit more tidy now...



I sourced an Oval bonnet from Dave Dinning (cheers Dave!) and chopped and modded it so that is quick release. I bought a Split Bug bonnet handle and drilled the crap out of it!

[Fasterbrit]

I guess that's pretty much it for now. I will post some more pix of work done in the future. Cheers for your kind words Speedwell Regards, matt

[SteveW]

Looking very cool Matt When are you aiming for it to be finished?!

[Todi]

Like this car! Keep up the good work!

[Jonny Grigg]

This is just 

I think I am a bit behind you with my car in terms of progress, but should be going for paint soon(ish). Still need to build the motor though 

Thanks for putting these up Matt. Great workmanship. 

[Fasterbrit]

Looking very cool Matt When are you aiming for it to be finished?!

Hi Steve. Was hoping for the first meet of 2009. That's the goal, but you know how it goes...

[Fasterbrit]

This is just 

I think I am a bit behind you with my car in terms of progress, but should be going for paint soon(ish). Still need to build the motor though 

Thanks for putting these up Matt. Great workmanship. 

No worries Johnny, hopefully I will have some more progress before christmas... Glad you like it

[Fasterbrit]

Here's a side on shot of it recently...

[tikimadness]

Hey Matt,

Is that rear apron scratchbuilt?

Looks so smooth

Michael

[Fasterbrit]

Hey Matt,

Is that rear apron scratchbuilt?

Looks so smooth

Michael

Yeah, it's fibreglass

[Fastbrit]

Needs IDAs, 205/70s and that'll be a start...

[Fasterbrit]

Needs IDAs, 205/70s and that'll be a start...

It would be way too slow on IDAs . They look damn cool though. Now here's a thought. Mod some IDAs to run fuel injectors. Preferably NOS Italian IDAs. First generation at that! That would really get some sphincters pulsing

When you down next Keith? Wouldn't mind purchasing a copy of your second testament

[Lee.C]

Here's a side on shot of it recently...

Looks alright I guess

[Tekken]

Love your work Matt,really look forward to see the car live!!Did you heat-treat your welds on the cage?And that monster hair dryer,is it an HX40?

Stian

[AntLockyer]

Inspirational stuff Matt. I need to get by bug done.

Any detail of what you did with the bonnet to make it quick release or can I just not see the pins?

[Fasterbrit]

Love your work Matt,really look forward to see the car live!!Did you heat-treat your welds on the cage?And that monster hair dryer,is it an HX40?

Stian

Thanks buddy Yes it's a Holset HX40 special. Some extra modification to the bearings I believe. There is some other suffix to the HX40 bit, but I have forgotten it now. No, I didn't heat treat the welds on the cage. Not necessary with Tig welding cro-mo. I am not sure I believe it's practical to heat treat mig welded cro-mo cages. Sounds a bit of a hassle to me. Never heard of it before, either before it was mentioned in another post. Not saying it can't be done, just never heard of it...

[Fasterbrit]

Inspirational stuff Matt. I need to get by bug done.

Any detail of what you did with the bonnet to make it quick release or can I just not see the pins?

Ant, I will try and remember to photo the bonnet securing mech. It's very simple, but quite effective. Cheers for the kind words

[ESH]

The car's looking great but it'll look better on the track so roll on next year.



It'll be good to have the spaghetti boiler back trackside, did you get a copy of the 'Italian Tuning Manual' with it?

 

[AntLockyer]

Ant, I will try and remember to photo the bonnet securing mech. It's very simple, but quite effective.

Cheers mate,
I'll hassle you about it in a couple of weeks

I've been toying with the idea of just bonding the original hinges onto my 'glass bonnet but that jsut seems like a heavy way of doing it.