Mythbuster: continuing project thread of my 1303 '75

[Wally]

[70Turbobug]

Nice pics! How did it perform with the new turbo?

[Wally]

Quit well. Smaller turbo in combination with the new cam and light flywheel/clutch is very responsive, but generator wiring issues (my fault), some handling issues (loose steering joint I just found out) and lack of driver skill/experience didn;t make that track the ideal opportunity to fully experience the new lower-end powerband.
Coming friday is a trackday at the Assen circuit (famous for its TT event (motorcycles)) and we get lap timers issued there. I have adjusted the rear yellow Koni's almost full-in, reinstalled the front 400lbs springs and took care of the other issues. Plus I know my former best time from last year, so hopefully it stays dry weather and I can do a little better comparing ;-)

[volkdent]

Watching those drag videos, makes me shudder if someone was to hop the guardrail! Who's idea was it to plant trees next to a drag strip!!! At some point in the future some car is going to be cut in half by one of those trees! Good runs, you think any NS video will surface?

Jason

[Wally]

Its a poor excuse for a drag strip Jason, I agree. Good thing it was just 1/8 mile..

Today something completely different yet again: a proper trackday! Unfortunately it rained the whole day...
Nevertheless Nigel (2,7 EFI) and I had a good day as the wet track was good for just finding the tracktion limits

Tnx to AJ for making the vid (awesome for a phone!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMWhFd1iJo0

[70Turbobug]

That is good quality for a phone! Good sound too,except for the wind.Nice footage!

[Wally]

Did some aero upgrades:




and from Gerrelt his awesome 'Ruf-style' A-piller 'raingutter wind deflectors':

[NO_H2O]

Cool stuff. I would like to know how the front end feels at speed after the mods.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by NO_H2O

Cool stuff. I would like to know how the front end feels at speed after the mods.

I understand. 'Unfortunately', I also will try to get a little (about 1 degree) extra caster from some adjustable top strut plates which John from www.mebejo.nl will try to make for me in the next two weeks. Plus a realignment to follow.
So, there will be two major changes that will influence straight line stability and the fender gills will be hard to judge on their own...

Sorry..

[70Turbobug]

The car will be quieter at high speed, especially with the rain gutter covers.That's a good indication that the aerodynamics is working.I don't think it will change the stability very much,but should allow a couple of extra Km/h top speed and as mentioned less aerodynamic noise.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by 70Turbobug

..,but should allow a couple of extra Km/h top speed ...

Since I seriously want to try to run 10.99x at Santa Pod this year (1/2 september at VWAction), all those little things should help some

[scardeep]

Front fender grills are just for airdinamics and better stability? i was thinking of better brake cooling...

You get more and more body mods. Some plans for running boards, mirrors, bumpers? easy weight savings are posiible there. But then you moving out away from original look.

[Wally]

Yeah Mark, your already posted before me ;-)
Wrt the 'dump': I am so fanatical that I try to 'shave' 5 kg's from myself as well before Action! My wife was happily amazed and surprised I'd do that for racing, but not for my health LOL! I said you see racing is healthy, proved my point haha!

Originally Posted by scardeep

Front fender grills are just for airdinamics and better stability? i was thinking of better brake cooling...

For brake cooling (don't really need that with these brakes though), the vents would have to be on 'the other side' of the fender I think?
The fender vents are to lessen the air pressure build-up there. I think there is some pressure there, probably mostly from the fender end acting somewhat like a 'scoop' if you know what I mean?
Hoping this will reduce lift from pressure inside and therefore also lessening drag at the same time.

You get more and more body mods. Some plans for running boards, mirrors, bumpers? easy weight savings are posiible there. But then you moving out away from original look.

Hmm, yeah, your right but I will try to keep the original beetle look as much as I think is a good compromise versus performance.
Not sure my replica (thin) running board will be much of a weight saving, but if and when I do replace it, it should be the original look as much as possible.
The door mirrors and trim will definately stay, but I still have a Kerscher GFK front bumper I may try out for drag racing as the weight saving of that is considarable. The Kamai air dam will probably be easy to swap over temporarily (I hope), but for track/circuit driving the original front bumper weight is 'in the right place' so to speak and stronger. Maybe strength of the original steel bumper is important for the front spoilers (air dam, splitter) too, I dunno yet how critical that is.
Thats also why its an ongoing project I suppose

[70Turbobug]

For sure! Wenn it comes down to dropping a 1/10 off your time, even a good dump in the morning helps!

[70Turbobug]

Front fender grills are just for airdinamics and better stability? i was thinking of better brake cooling...

Actually, the grills vent the air that the tire produces and the air that gets trapped in the fender well.Wally also has a spoiler and splitter and that helps minimizing air getting into the fender well and on the tires.At high speeds that trapped air can lighten the front end...