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PORSCHE CLUTCHES AND BROKEN AXLES : By Gregg BUNCH - DKP I
Once upon a time in 1966, I had the clutch replaced in my '66 with a Porsche clutch. I was told by my mechanic, Ron Fleming (both the "F" in FAT Performance and my best man in 1969), that I was not to race for a few days so that the clutch could break-in properly. Well, I immediately found my friend Jim Holmes (Jake of DKP 1), and we went behind Carl's in Anaheim to race!
As I popped the clutch it felt like I had pulled a wheelie, and as I returned to earth, I noticed that my engine was running but my car wasn't! What was that, that Ron had said? Of course, Jim had blown my doors off, but I had a great hole-shot!
I went to a pay phone - no cell phones back then - and called a tow truck.
With tail between legs and car in tow, I went back to Westphalia Motors, where Ron worked at the time. He laughed, stating "you did what I told you not to do didn't you?" "Yes" I reluctantly said.
The owner of his shop, Rudy, an genuine German mechanic, said that he had never seen anything like it in all of his years. For many years following that incident my broken axle hung in their office as a reminder of what can happen when you don't listen to your mechanic.
As I popped the clutch it felt like I had pulled a wheelie, and as I returned to earth, I noticed that my engine was running but my car wasn't! What was that, that Ron had said? Of course, Jim had blown my doors off, but I had a great hole-shot!
I went to a pay phone - no cell phones back then - and called a tow truck. With tail between legs and car in tow, I went back to Westphalia Motors, where Ron worked at the time. He laughed, stating "you did what I told you not to do didn't you?" "Yes" I reluctantly said.
The owner of his shop, Rudy, an genuine German mechanic, said that he had never seen anything like it in all of his years. For many years following that incident my broken axle hung in their office as a reminder of what can happen when you don't listen to your mechanic.
LOWRY, VITTONE AND THE 208 HP FLUSHING TOILET : by Glenn MILLER & Rog KESSINGER
Dean Lowry built the Gurney car from young Darrell Vittone's street oval, eventually becoming the Inch Pincher. For the first few years it was driven only by Dean, with the door lettering stating "Engine & Dyno by Deano." Later, when young Darrell Vittone became involved, the lettering was changed to "Vittone & Lowry." At this point, the car had already been setting NHRA records.
Young Vittone was a real prankster! Once, when Deano was running-in a fresh engine combination on the dyno, Darrell went and flushed the toilet, killing the water pressure, giving the dyno a false reading.
Darrell liked to play his stunts on Dean, but Dean was so mellow that he just took it in stride, with that big smile of his!
When Dean produced the first 200HP VW Engine in history (the dyno read 208 h.p.), the Inch Pincher was lettered with that figure within the week!
Dean Lowry at the helm of EMPI's dyno - G. Miller
Dean Lowry built the Gurney car from young Darrell Vittone's street oval, eventually becoming the Inch Pincher. For the first few years it was driven only by Dean, with the door lettering stating "Engine & Dyno by Deano." Later, when young Darrell Vittone became involved, the lettering was changed to "Vittone & Lowry." At this point, the car had already been setting NHRA records.
Young Vittone was a real prankster! Once, when Deano was running-in a fresh engine combination on the dyno, Darrell went and flushed the toilet, killing the water pressure, giving the dyno a false reading.
Darrell liked to play his stunts on Dean, but Dean was so mellow that he just took it in stride, with that big smile of his!
When Dean produced the first 200HP VW Engine in history (the dyno read 208 h.p.), the Inch Pincher was lettered with that figure within the week!
Dean Lowry at the helm of EMPI's dyno - G. Miller
RUNNING THE BACKWARDS QUARTER MILE :
by Ed Craig (DRA)
The DKP used to have their Drag Days at Carlsbad in the '70's, and the track would let us in the night before the event. Most of us would just end up sleeping in the pits. It always made for a fun trip to Carlsbad - hang out that night, and race the next day.
During one event, people were a little out of control, and started driving their cars up and down the drag strip during the middle of the night. This was obviously a big "no-no" with the management, and DKP was doing their best to keep people off of the track. At daybreak, however, I awoke to the sound of a big-motored VW racing down the strip.
What amazed me, however, was looking over to see a Beetle driving in the wrong direction, heading toward the timing lights! At Carlsbad, the staging lanes are at a 90 degree angle to the strip, and the burnout area is rather small. The driver hit 4th gear right around the start line, and had nowhere to go. I didn't see the actual crash, but my guess is that he tried to turn and didn't quite make it.
Needless to say, the car was a mess, and the guy was hurt. The track management showed up an hour after it happened, and they were pissed! They jumped on the P.A. system and told us all that we had 15 minutes to get off the track. While we all left the track, the representatives calmed down about an hour later, eventually letting us back in. The accident certainly didn't help relations between DKP and DVB.
Marc Bluhler (DRA), pictured with a heavily damaged participant car of the Backwards 1/4 Mile Contest - E. Craig
The DKP used to have their Drag Days at Carlsbad in the '70's, and the track would let us in the night before the event. Most of us would just end up sleeping in the pits. It always made for a fun trip to Carlsbad - hang out that night, and race the next day.
During one event, people were a little out of control, and started driving their cars up and down the drag strip during the middle of the night. This was obviously a big "no-no" with the management, and DKP was doing their best to keep people off of the track. At daybreak, however, I awoke to the sound of a big-motored VW racing down the strip.
What amazed me, however, was looking over to see a Beetle driving in the wrong direction, heading toward the timing lights! At Carlsbad, the staging lanes are at a 90 degree angle to the strip, and the burnout area is rather small. The driver hit 4th gear right around the start line, and had nowhere to go. I didn't see the actual crash, but my guess is that he tried to turn and didn't quite make it.
Needless to say, the car was a mess, and the guy was hurt. The track management showed up an hour after it happened, and they were pissed! They jumped on the P.A. system and told us all that we had 15 minutes to get off the track. While we all left the track, the representatives calmed down about an hour later, eventually letting us back in. The accident certainly didn't help relations between DKP and DVB.
Marc Bluhler (DRA), pictured with a heavily damaged participant car of the Backwards 1/4 Mile Contest - E. Craig
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VW CLUB MEMORIES :
by Ed Craig (DRA)
I bought my first VW Beetle in the Spring of 1969. With some help from my parents, I was able to sell my '57 Chevy (sold it for $600.00!), and purchase a new '69 Bug. I lived in Whittier, California at the time (just North of Orange County), and the "big thing" back then was to cruise Whittier Blvd. During the summer months, there were 1000 or so cars on Whittier Blvd. every night, and I was there most nights as well.
The two big VW clubs in the area were the Volkschargers, and Der Volkswaffe. I ended up meeting and joining the Volkschargers, and shortly thereafter, got my first good look at all of the clubs in the area. Car rallies were very popular in Southern California back then, with one occurring nearby almost every Saturday night. You could find two types: those open to all cars, and those for VWs only. I don't remember which specific rally was my first, but it was a VW-only rally, with approximately 200 cars showing up.
Ed Craig's (ex-Mahaffee) '51, circa 1972 - E. Craig
A common appearance of modified VW's back then mimicked the American hot rods of the time - big tires with white letters and Crager SS mags with adapters were popular. Big "buggy whip" style antennas were the rage as well. When I went to my first rally in Orange County, however, I saw VWs that looked totally different (the "Look" that is referred to now as Cal-Look might have been more appropriately called the Orange County Look). These cars were lowered, with small skinny tires on front, had no or little chrome, and no bumpers (this was before any bumper laws, so t-bars had yet to become popular). Deck lids were run closed, with no stand-offs or props. The dashboards were clean, with a few cars running aluminum panels and VDO gauges (some didn't even have ignition keys - they used a toggle switch and a starter button!).
The motors were black, and if you used dual carbs, it was usually 48 IDA's (this was before IDF's, Kadrons, or Dellortos were used). The mufflers were black Glasspacks, usually with the chrome tip cut off and replaced with a smaller black one (this was the answer to noise tickets). The wheels were chrome with Porsche hubcaps, or BRM's. There were a few cars also running EMPI 5 or 8 spokes, or the rarer American 5 or 8 spokes.
Copyright © 2003 El Dub - All rights reserved.
E-mail : eldub@cal-look.com
I bought my first VW Beetle in the Spring of 1969. With some help from my parents, I was able to sell my '57 Chevy (sold it for $600.00!), and purchase a new '69 Bug. I lived in Whittier, California at the time (just North of Orange County), and the "big thing" back then was to cruise Whittier Blvd. During the summer months, there were 1000 or so cars on Whittier Blvd. every night, and I was there most nights as well.
The two big VW clubs in the area were the Volkschargers, and Der Volkswaffe. I ended up meeting and joining the Volkschargers, and shortly thereafter, got my first good look at all of the clubs in the area. Car rallies were very popular in Southern California back then, with one occurring nearby almost every Saturday night. You could find two types: those open to all cars, and those for VWs only. I don't remember which specific rally was my first, but it was a VW-only rally, with approximately 200 cars showing up.
Ed Craig's (ex-Mahaffee) '51, circa 1972 - E. Craig
A common appearance of modified VW's back then mimicked the American hot rods of the time - big tires with white letters and Crager SS mags with adapters were popular. Big "buggy whip" style antennas were the rage as well. When I went to my first rally in Orange County, however, I saw VWs that looked totally different (the "Look" that is referred to now as Cal-Look might have been more appropriately called the Orange County Look). These cars were lowered, with small skinny tires on front, had no or little chrome, and no bumpers (this was before any bumper laws, so t-bars had yet to become popular). Deck lids were run closed, with no stand-offs or props. The dashboards were clean, with a few cars running aluminum panels and VDO gauges (some didn't even have ignition keys - they used a toggle switch and a starter button!).
The motors were black, and if you used dual carbs, it was usually 48 IDA's (this was before IDF's, Kadrons, or Dellortos were used). The mufflers were black Glasspacks, usually with the chrome tip cut off and replaced with a smaller black one (this was the answer to noise tickets). The wheels were chrome with Porsche hubcaps, or BRM's. There were a few cars also running EMPI 5 or 8 spokes, or the rarer American 5 or 8 spokes.
E-mail : eldub@cal-look.com